Ethiopia withdraws troops from Eritrea border

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Ethiopia has begun withdrawing troops from disputed territories along the border with Eritrea, months after signing a landmark peace deal with its neighbour.

Eritrea and Ethiopia signed a historic peace agreement in July with Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed vowing to withdraw troops from the border and hand over disputed territories to Eritrea. The presence of Ethiopian troops in disputed territories has been a point of tension between the two countries for two decades.

Ethiopia withdraws troops from border

Eritrea and Ethiopia fought a bitter war between 1998 and 2000 over various disputed areas along their shared border – most notably the town of Badme. A peace deal was signed two years later but tensions have remained high with Ethiopia keeping troops in the disputed areas every since and Eritrea accusing its neighbour of ignoring a UN-backed border ruling that placed the disputed areas in Eritrea.

In July, Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed implemented a change of approach from his predecessors and began a new peace initiative with Eritrea, vowing to remove troops from the border and fully adhere to the border ruling that says Badme is Eritrean territory.

Now, less than six months later, Ethiopia is officially withdrawing its troops from the area.

Featured image: Google Maps

About Aaron Brooks

Aaron Brooks is a UK journalist who wants to cut out the international agendas in news. Spending his early years in both England and Northern Ireland he saw the difference between reality and media coverage at an early age. After graduating from the University of Chester with a BA in journalism, his travels revealed just how large the gap between news and the real world can be. As Editor-in-Chief at East Africa Monitor, it’s his job to provide a balanced view of what’s going on in the region for English-speaking audiences.