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Ethiopia tells UN it is acting in self-defense against Eritrea · Best of: Features

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  Written by Khalid Kaziha. This article is being read by an automated
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  voice generated by Everlet. Nairobi, Kenya, the AP. Ethiopia
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  told the UN Security Council on Friday it is taking measures in
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  self defense against Eritrea, accusing its neighbor of sending troops across the
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  border and occupying parts of northern Ethiopia. The declaration adds to fears
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  of a wider conflict as government allied forces report advances in Tigray,
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  a region devastated by a previous war. The AP footage on Saturday
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  from Adagrat, about twenty five kilometers, fifteen miles from the border with
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  Eritrea, showed Ethiopian military vehicles and troops entering the city, as some
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  residents celebrated in the streets. Residents of Tigray's second largest city described
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  hunger, closed banks, and a lack of medical care. In a letter
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  dated Friday, Foreign Minister Gedian Timothos invoked Ethiopia's right to self defense
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  under Article fifty one of the UN Charter. He did not specify
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  what measures the country was taking. The letter, obtained by the Associated
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  Press, accused Eritrea of deploying infantry and mechanized units in recent weeks
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  and supporting, financing, arming, and directing insurgent groups. It did not identify
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  the occupied areas or provide evidence supporting its allegations. Ethiopia had repeatedly
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  urged Eritrea to withdraw its forces, Gadian wrote. The AP could not
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  independently verify the allegations. Relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea have been getting
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  worse. In its response to the UN Security Council, signed by Foreign
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  Minister Osman Sale, Eritrea rejected Ethiopia's justification of self defense and accused
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  it of seeking to forcibly acquire sovereign access to the Red Sea.
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  It asked the Council to forcefully condemn Ethiopia deplorable declaration of war
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  against Eritrea, and take deterrent measures. Eritrea announced last week it was
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  severing diplomatic ties after Ethiopia expelled ten Eritrean diplomats and closed its
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  embassy in Asmara. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abi Ahmed reiterated Monday that Ethiopia
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  must have access to the Red Sea. Ethiopia's foreign ministry said it
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  remained committed to dialogue with its neighbors. The accusations deepen a rift
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  between countries whose armies fought together against the Tigray People's Liberation Front
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  from twenty twenty to twenty twenty two. Researchers at Ghent University in
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  Belgium estimated the previous war caused about five hundred thousand civilian deaths
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  in Tigigray from violence, famine, and the collapse of health services. Government
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  Allied forces report gains in Tigray. Government and Allied forces took Idaga
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  Hamas early Friday in Abi Adi in the Tembian area, on Tuesday
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  afternoon, according to Ermias Ababu, a commander of the government allied Tigray
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  Peace forces Residents also reported the takeover of Idaga Hamas. Gebremadin Kihishin,
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  a business owner in Tembian, said government allied forces controlled Abi Adi.
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  It was unclear from those accounts who held the towns immediately before
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  the reported government advance, or whether Eritrean troops were involved in the
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  fighting. Ermias previously reported Eritrean personnel entering Adagrad on Tuesday and Ida
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  Hamas on Wednesday, citing reports from his personnel. On Saturday Ermius said
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  Ethiopian forces and their allies had retaken Adigrat. The AP footage showed
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  residents welcoming troops, including one person waving an Ethiopian flag. The footage
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  did not establish who previously held Adagrat, or whether Eritrean troops had
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  been involved in fighting there. Right now we are facing a severe
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  crisis. Children and the elderly are suffering from hunger, said Hagos Walde
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  Gibriel, an Adigrat resident. He said sick people were dying because the
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  lacked medical treatment, and he appealed for immediate help. Team Lemlem, a
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  displaced resident from the border town of Zalambesa, said banks were closed
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  and food supplies were running out. If peace prevails, it would bring
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  us great hope, he said. The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data
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  Monitoring Group, known as ACLED, separately said Eritrean troops crossed at Zelambesa
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  on Wednesday and came under drone attack while traveling toward Edaga Hamas.
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  It attributed the strikes to Ethiopia's military. The AP could not independently
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  verify the accounts of Eritrean troop movements or the drone attack. The
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  TPLF joined six other opposition groups last month in an alliance seeking
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  to oust Abi. Fighting escalated late in September, undermining the twenty twenty
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  two peace agreement, and rebels seized Tigray's capital, McKel and its airport.
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  The rebels announced their withdrawal october third, and government allied fighters entered
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  the city. McKell awaits a new administration. In McKell, Federal Police on
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  Friday called over loudspeakers for residence to help establish a new administration.
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  Government offices remained shut, and no administration had taken office by that
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  morning. The Tigray Peace Force imposed an overnight curfew Wednesday. The US
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  Embassy said Thursday that telecommunications had resumed in McKell and much of
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  Teagray, while mobile banking and electricity had partially resumed. All remained subject
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  to interruption. During the previous war, the AP documented accounts accusing Eritrean
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  soldiers of killings, rape, and looting. Eritrean President Isaias Afuerki dismissed allegations
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  of abuses by his forces as a fantasy in twenty twenty three.
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  Philman Ekwar Hailu in Mikel, Ethiopia, Amir Aman Kiaro in Hamburg, Germany,
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  and Farnush Amiri at the United Nations contributed to this report.