Eritrean–Ethiopian War
The Eritrean–Ethiopian War, also known as the Badme War, was a major armed conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea that took place from May 1998 to June 2000.
| Eritrean–Ethiopian War | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Eritrean–Ethiopian border conflict | |||||||||
Map of the disputed territories on the Eritrea–Ethiopia border where vast majority of the fighting took place | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Eritrea | Ethiopia | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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| Units involved | |||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
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200,000– 300,000 | 300,000–350,000 | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
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19,000–67,000 killed Other estimates: 150,000 killed |
34,000–60,000 killed Other estimates: 123,000 killed | ||||||||
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After Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993, relations were initially friendly. However, disagreements about where the newly created international border should be caused relations to deteriorate significantly, eventually leading to full scale war. According to a 2005 ruling by an international commission, Eritrea broke international law and triggered the war by invading Ethiopia. By 2000, Ethiopia held all of the disputed territory and had advanced into Eritrea. The war officially came to an end with the signing of the Algiers Agreement in 12 December 2000; however, the ensuing border conflict would continue on for nearly two decades.
Eritrea and Ethiopia both spent considerable amount of their revenue and wealth on the armament ahead of the war, and reportedly suffered between 70,000–300,000 deaths combined as a direct consequence thereof, excluding an indeterminate number of refugees. The conflict ultimately led to minor border changes through final binding border delimitation overseen by the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
After the war ended, the Eritrea–Ethiopia Boundary Commission, a body established by the Algiers Agreement, concluded that Badme, the disputed territory at the heart of the conflict, belongs to Eritrea. On 5 June 2018, the ruling coalition of Ethiopia, headed by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, agreed to fully implement the peace treaty signed with Eritrea in 2000, with peace declared by both parties in July 2018, twenty years after the initial confrontation.