Reports Say Ethiopian Forces Crossed Into Eritrea Near Assab and Took Deba-Sima; Claim Not Independently Verified

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A scanned military map of Assab on the Red Sea with inland roads and place names including Debaysima.

A 1988 Defense Mapping Agency chart of Assab (Āseb) and its hinterland. The chart labels Debaysima inland of the Red Sea port. Unverified reports this week place Deba-Sima (also spelled Daba Sima or Debaysima) on the Bure road toward Assab. [file photo]

Unverified reports say Ethiopian National Defense Force units crossed into Eritrea on Sunday near the Bure front and took control of Deba-Sima, a locality on the road toward the Red Sea port of Assab. UMD Media, which said it had spoken with sources on both the Ethiopian federal government and Eritrean sides, wrote on Monday that a source close to the federal government put the crossing at about 5 p.m. local time on Oct. 11, after mechanized fighting near Bure. The source said Eritrean forces fled and that Ethiopian troops then held Deba-Sima (also spelled Daba Sima or Debay Sima), a village in Eritrea’s Southern Denkalya subregion about 50 kilometres from Assab and close to Ethiopia’s Afar Region.

UMD Media said it had not independently verified the advance, any withdrawal of Eritrean forces, or the extent of casualties, and that the military situation in the area remained unclear. If confirmed, the outlet wrote, the report would mark the first claimed Ethiopian military attack inside Eritrean territory in the present escalation. Neither the Ethiopian Government nor Eritrea had issued a public statement confirming or denying a fight at Deba-Sima by Monday morning ET.

The report lands as Abiy Ahmed’s regime and Eritrea trade accusations at the United Nations and as fighting continues in Tigray. Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos told the UN Security Council last week that Eritrean troops had advanced as far as 60 kilometres into Tigray and that Ethiopia was acting in self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter. Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh, in his own letter, urged the Council to condemn what he called Ethiopia’s “deplorable declaration of war” and to take “deterrent measures,” including steps under Chapter VII. Eritrea denies invading Ethiopia. Reuters has said it could not independently verify the scale of any Eritrean presence in Tigray, while residents and other sources have reported seeing Eritrean troops in northern Tigray in recent days.

Assab sits at the center of the political argument. Landlocked Ethiopia has pressed for Red Sea access since losing its coastline when Eritrea became independent in 1993, and Abiy Ahmed has repeatedly framed a sea outlet as essential. Eritrea says Addis Ababa’s charges of an Eritrean invasion are a pretext to seize Assab. The New Humanitarian reported on Monday that local sources told it Eritrean forces had taken part in clashes in several places over recent days, including at Adi Hageray, about 60 kilometres from Shire in northwestern Tigray. That account, too, has not been independently confirmed by Zegabi.

On X, the Deba-Sima claim spread quickly after Sunday evening. Meredit Fernandez (@MereditFernand3), who describes himself in Amharic on his bio as an Ethiopian who will not bargain over national interest, sovereignty, honor or unity, wrote in Amharic: “በአሰብ -ቡሬ ግንባር የነበረው የኢትዮጵያ መከላከያ ሠራዊት በኤርትራ ግዛት ውስጥ ለአሰብ ወደብ እስትራቴጂካዊ የሆነችውን ‘ደባሲማን’ ሙሉ በሙሉ በቁጥጥሩ ሥር አውሏል” (“The Ethiopian Defense Force that was on the Assab-Bure front has fully brought under its control ‘Deba-Sima,’ which is strategic for the Assab port inside Eritrean territory”). A Tigrigna account posting as Eritrea to 🇪🇷s (@meha65796), whose bio is empty, wrote: “ብግምባር ቡሬ ዝርከብ ሰራዊት ENDF ኣብ ልዕሊ ሰራዊት ሻዕብያ ብዝወሰዶ ከቢድ መጥቃዕቲ ‘ደባሲማ’ ንዝተብሃለ ከባቢ ሙሉእ ንሙሉእ ተቖፃፂሩ” (“The ENDF force on the Bure front, through a heavy attack it carried out on Shabia forces, has fully taken control of the area called Deba-Sima”), tagging Eritrea’s information minister Yemane G. Meskel (@hawelti). Behiwot Tilahun (@BehiwotTilahun), who describes himself as a sustainable energy engineer, wrote, “ENDF crossed the border at the Bure front and captured Deba Sima, Eritrea. Never give up on Assab.” An account posting as Love ❤️ ENDF (@EastAfriNews) wrote simply, “We are just 40KM away from Assab.”

Others rejected the story. David Yeh (@Yehdavid), who writes that “#EritreaMyLove” comes first, replied that it was “FAKE NEWS,” that “ENDF did NOT take Deba-Sima,” and that there was “no official statement from ENDF, no footage, no geolocation.” Néstor Siurana (@NestorSiurana), who describes himself as a licensed geographer and researcher on Sub-Saharan Africa, summarized Spanish-language local reports of Ethiopian troops at Bure and Deba Sima, then stressed that nothing had been confirmed officially. Kenya Axis (@kenyaaxis) relayed the UMD Media account and noted that “the reported territorial advance remains unverified.” Zegabi could not verify any of these posts.

Federal and allied forces have, separately, pressed through eastern and northwestern Tigray in recent days. APA, citing residents, said on Monday that pro-government forces entered Shire on Friday afternoon without resistance after rebel fighters and the local administration left on Wednesday, and that four people were killed in shooting tied to looting. Al Jazeera and other outlets reported that government and allied forces entered Adigrat, near the Eritrean border, over the weekend after TPLF fighters withdrew. Those advances inside Ethiopia are distinct from the unverified Deba-Sima claim across the border.

By Monday morning ET, the authorities in Addis Ababa and Asmara had not publicly addressed Deba-Sima by name. The claim remains a social-media and single-outlet report set against a diplomatic fight that both countries have already carried to the Security Council.

Sources