Ethiopia's government communication minister, Enatalem Melese, said that "all foreign military forces operating within our sovereign territory must withdraw immediately". The United States warned that the region "cannot sustain another military conflict" and urged both governments towards "maximum restraint".
Neither statement names Eritrea. Both follow a week in which residents of Adigrat described Eritrean soldiers moving south, ACLED placed a crossing at Zalambessa, and Asmara declined to deny it.
This is the strongest thing Addis Ababa has said so far, and its importance is mostly in what it concedes. A government demanding that foreign forces leave is a government asserting foreign forces are present. It commits Ethiopia to the claim in a way a press briefing does not, and it narrows the room for either side to walk the week backwards quietly.
What it does not do is tell us whose forces, how many, where, or what happens if they stay.
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Ethiopia's government communication minister publicly demanded that all foreign military forces withdraw from Ethiopian territory immediately.Enatalem Melese, Ethiopian government communication ministerlikely
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The United States warned that the region cannot sustain another military conflict and urged maximum restraint.The United States, as reported by The Nationallikely
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