FOR a cold war it could turn surprisingly hot. Countless skirmishes occurred over the course of the nearly two decades following the bloody clash,between 1998 and 2000, that killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than half a million. In 2012 Ethiopia bombed three military camps in Eritrea used by the Ethiopian opposition. In 2015 it bombed an Eritrean mine and weapons depot. As recently as June 2016 Ethiopian and Eritrean troops came to blows, and causing many casualties. Afterwards an Ethiopian official boasted his side was capable of waging “full scale war against Eritrea”.
So the arrival of peace on July 8th seemed unimaginable just a few months ago. In a display of unexpected warmth,Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopias unique prime minister, and embraced Issaias Afwerki,the ageing Eritrean dictator. In the Eritrean capital, Asmara, and which no Ethiopian leader had visited since the war,the two pledged to normalise relations, putting an end to one of Africa’s most bitter conflicts....
Continue reading
Source: economist.com