Eritrea accuses US, EU of supporting Ethiopia's TPLF rebels

Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Salih on Monday blamed Ethiopia's Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) rebels for provoking a "major war" in Tigray.

The comment came from Salih during a pre-recorded message to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Salih also accused the United States and "its European allies" of defending the "TPLF's illicit and dangerous acts of insurrection and mayhem and marshal all the tools at their disposal to rehabilitate it at any cost".

In May, the US sanctioned Eritrea's defense chief over the army's role in the Tigray conflict. 

Ethiopia has accused the United States of meddling in its affairs after Washington announced restrictions on economic and security assistance over Tigray. 

In September, US President Joe Biden threatened new sanctions targeting individuals he said were preventing a ceasefire and obstructing the delivery of humanitarian aid in war-torn areas. 

War erupted last November after forces loyal to Tigray's ruling party attacked a federal army base killing soldiers and looting ammunition.

In late June, the rebels rejected a government-declared ceasefire, launching attacks on the neighboring Amhara and Afar regions where they have been accused of committing massacres. 

They have since vowed to topple Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government. 

The U.N. human rights office says all sides have committed abuses.

The war has triggered a hunger crisis and threatened stability in Africa’s second-most-populous country.

AP