Ethiopian drones shift balance of battle in Tigray
Government drone strikes in northern Tigray pushed back Eritrean forces and Tigray People's Liberation Front fighters, leaving burned trucks along roads in and around Adigrat, about 40 kilometres south of the Eritrean border. This month the two neighbours severed diplomatic relations after Addis Ababa accused Asmara of backing Tigray forces, and according to a security source thousands of Eritrean soldiers crossed the border in early October to support the front's fighters. The Ethiopian government announced a six-month transitional administration in Tigray as a preliminary step toward holding elections in the region.
Why it matters: The drone campaign and the rupture in Ethiopian-Eritrean relations place the conflict and security theme at the centre of the Horn of Africa's shifting alignments.