{"id":179602,"date":"2026-10-18T09:57:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T13:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/?p=179602"},"modified":"2026-10-18T09:57:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T13:57:18","slug":"rubio-says-separatists-attacked-inside-ethiopia-and-calls-drone-strikes-on-its-capital-terrorist-attacks-warns-troop-buildup-on-eritrea-border-could-widen-the-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/179602","title":{"rendered":"Rubio Says \u201cSeparatists\u201d Attacked Inside Ethiopia and Calls Drone Strikes on Its Capital Terrorist Attacks, Warns Troop Buildup on Eritrea Border Could Widen the War"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Official<\/p>\n

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in his official State Department portrait, January 2025. [U.S. Department of State \/ Wikimedia Commons, public domain] [file photo]<\/em><\/p>\n

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that the Ethiopian Government is facing \u201cseparatists\u201d who attacked inside the country, and he described drone strikes on Addis Ababa as terrorist attacks, while warning that troops massing on both sides of the Ethiopia-Eritrea border could turn the fighting into a broader war.<\/p>\n

Rubio was answering a reporter\u2019s question at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Saturday night, according to the State Department transcript<\/a>, before leaving on a trip to Uzbekistan and India. Asked how high the risk of war between the two neighbors was, he said: \u201cYou have these separatists that were attacking inside of Ethiopia. You had an Ethiopian response to it. You see troops surging on both sides of the border as a result of that. And anytime you see troops on both sides of the border in a place like that, you\u2019re always worried that that can turn into a broader conflict.\u201d He said he had spoken to Ethiopian officials personally a few days earlier and told them, \u201cwe understand the challenge you\u2019re facing from these separatists, and obviously no one is supportive of terrorism and the terrorist attacks that came against them, drone attacks against their own capital, but we also think \u2026 it\u2019s a time to sort of be wise and measured in how you respond to that and make sure it doesn\u2019t turn into a broader war which could ultimately pull in other countries.\u201d He ended his answer with, \u201cThe last thing the world needs right now is another war.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rubio did not name the TPLF or any other group in the exchange, and the transcript records no formal designation of any kind. BBC Amharic<\/a>, BBC Afaan Oromoo<\/a> and the Addis Ababa outlet Ethiopian Business View<\/a> reported the remarks as a reference to the TPLF and the armed groups fighting alongside it, which have been at war with the federal government since late September. Ethiopian Business View described them as \u201cthe armed groups, which leads by Tigray People Liberation Front [sic].\u201d Rubio\u2019s remarks were the first public U.S. reference Zegabi has found to drone attacks on the capital. On the night of Oct. 1, residents of the Gotera and Bethel areas told BBC Amharic they heard heavy explosions after 12:20 a.m. local time, and Reuters and AFP cited diplomatic sources who said blasts were heard, but BBC Amharic said at the time that its efforts to get an explanation from government officials were unsuccessful. The same day, the authorities in Addis Ababa declared 10 Eritrean diplomats persona non grata<\/a> and closed the Ethiopian embassy in Asmara, and Eritrea severed diplomatic ties<\/a> in response.<\/p>\n

The reporter also asked whether it had been a mistake to lift some \u201cEthiopia-related sanctions\u201d shortly before the violence flared. Rubio said no. \u201cThese were very small sanctions, and they don\u2019t really have anything to do with what\u2019s happening over there,\u201d he said. On Sept. 18, five days before the fighting began, the U.S. Treasury\u2019s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced<\/a> that the national emergency declared in 2021 under Executive Order 14046 had expired and removed the people and entities designated under it from its sanctions list, among them the Eritrean Defense Forces, Eritrea\u2019s ruling People\u2019s Front for Democracy and Justice, the Red Sea Trading Corporation and the Hidri Trust. Rubio said Washington has not had \u201cthe closest relationship with Eritrea, obviously, over the years,\u201d but has been in contact with Asmara \u201cmore than usual\u201d in recent months. \u201cOur hope was that by lifting some of these sanctions, we can increase those links because it\u2019s hard to serve the role of mediator and peacemaker unless you can talk to both sides,\u201d he said, adding that \u201cthe Ethiopian side we talk to a lot more.\u201d<\/p>\n

The State Department\u2019s last published readout of such a call is from Wednesday, Oct. 14, when Rubio spoke with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed about what the State Department called \u201cheightened tensions with Eritrea.\u201d In its readout<\/a>, the department said Rubio supports de-escalation by all sides, that \u201cthe only sustainable solution\u201d runs through dialogue as agreed in the 2018 Ethiopia-Eritrea peace framework, and that \u201call countries in the Horn of Africa must respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of their neighbors and avoid cross-border incursions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two governments have each told the UN Security Council that the other is the aggressor. Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos wrote that Eritrea had moved mechanized units 30 to 60 kilometers into Ethiopia across three zones of Tigray, and Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh wrote on Oct. 9 that Ethiopia had declared war on his country, BBC Tigrinya<\/a> reported. Asmara denies that its troops entered Tigray. In a briefing for foreign diplomats in Asmara last week, Osman accused Ethiopia of waging an \u201cunjustified invasion\u201d and said its claims on the Red Sea amount to a declaration of war, according to BBC Tigrinya<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Russia has also offered itself as a go-between. Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alimov told the Russian newspaper Izvestia that Moscow is ready to provide a platform where Ethiopian and Eritrean representatives can meet on the sidelines of the third Russia-Africa summit, set for Oct. 28 and 29 in Moscow, if both countries agree, Sputnik Africa<\/a> and BBC Tigrinya<\/a> reported. BBC Tigrinya, which quoted Alimov calling Ethiopia and Eritrea \u201creliable friendly countries\u201d of Russia, said Abiy Ahmed had accepted President Vladimir Putin\u2019s invitation to the summit and that Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki is expected to attend. Zegabi found no public response to the Russian offer from either government by Sunday morning ET.<\/p>\n

On X, Rubio\u2019s words were read in very different ways, and some posts went further than the transcript. Chalachew Eshetie (@CEshetie<\/a>), whose bio says he is a diplomat at Ethiopia\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, wrote that Rubio \u201caccurately identified the TPLF as \u2018Separatists and Terrorists\u2019\u201d and that \u201cthe Ethiopian Federal Government has every right to quell this terrorist entity and defend itself against any foreign aggression.\u201d Bruk Aseged (@BrukAsegedET<\/a>), whose bio says he is chairman of Gobuzz Media Holdings, wrote that \u201cWashington\u2019s stance firmly validates the FDRE\u2019s security perspective.\u201d Yohannes Woldegabriel (@JohnAbawoldu<\/a>) disagreed: \u201cSec Rubio got it wrong: TPLF is among Ethiopia\u2019s most centrist organizations, not separatist. He seems less concerned about conflict contained within Ethiopia, emphasizing alleged drone attacks in Addis Ababa while overlooking government attacks on civilians and aid conveys [sic].\u201d Axum Tsion (@tsion_axum<\/a>), whose bio reads \u201cManifesting \u2018ABAY TIGRAY\u2019,\u201d wrote that \u201cTPLF is NOT a separatist,\u201d and in a later post<\/a> in Tigrigna saw something else in the moment: \u201c\u12a5\u12da \u12d5\u12f5\u120d \u12da\u1361 \u1295\u1275\u130d\u122b\u12ed \u12ab\u1265 \u12d5\u1295\u12ad\u120a\u120d \u1275\u12c8\u1340\u1209\u1361 \u12ab\u1265 \u12a2\u1275\u12ee\u1335\u12eb \u1275\u130b\u120b\u1308\u1208\u1209\u1361 \u12d3\u122d\u1230 \u12cd\u1233\u1290\u12a3\u1361 \u1275\u1235\u122d\u1270\u1209 \u12a5\u12e9\u201d (\u201cThis is an opportunity for Tigray to get out of the trap, to be freed from Ethiopia and to put its self-determination into practice\u201d). Munir Omer (@M___Falkon<\/a>), whose bio lists law degrees in international law and describes him as a researcher and lecturer, wrote that the most important thing he took from the remarks was that \u201cthe MSM & Ethiopian efforts to establish a fabricated scenario of Eritrean soldiers inside Ethiopia did not work.\u201d An Amharic-language account, @EPeace_finder<\/a>, wrote, \u201c\u1260\u1270\u1208\u12ed\u121d \u12a0\u12f2\u1235 \u12a0\u1260\u1263 \u120b\u12ed \u1235\u1208\u1270\u1348\u1340\u1218\u12c9 \u12e8\u12f5\u122e\u1295 \u1325\u1243\u1275 \u12e8\u1230\u1320\u12cd \u12a0\u1235\u1270\u12eb\u12e8\u1275 \u1265\u12d9\u121d \u12a0\u120d\u1270\u1218\u1278\u129d\u121d\u201d (\u201cI was not very comfortable with what he said, especially about the drone attack carried out on Addis Ababa\u201d), and wondered whether a recent lull in air attacks by the alliance forces was linked to American pressure. The Arabic account @Memiltary<\/a>, whose bio says it follows military and political affairs, summed up the remarks in Egyptian Arabic as \u201c\u0641\u064a\u0647 \u0642\u0648\u0627\u062a \u0628\u062a\u062a\u062d\u0634\u062f \u0639\u0644\u0649 \u0627\u0644\u0646\u0627\u062d\u064a\u062a\u064a\u0646 \u0645\u0646 \u0627\u0644\u062d\u062f\u0648\u062f \u0628\u0639\u062f \u0647\u062c\u0645\u0627\u062a \u00ab\u0627\u0644\u0627\u0646\u0641\u0635\u0627\u0644\u064a\u064a\u0646\u00bb \u062c\u0648\u0647 \u0625\u062b\u064a\u0648\u0628\u064a\u0627 \u0648\u062f\u0631\u0648\u0646\u0632 \u0639\u0644\u0649 \u0639\u0627\u0635\u0645\u062a\u0647\u0627\u201d (\u201ctroops are massing on both sides of the border after attacks by \u2018separatists\u2019 inside Ethiopia and drones on its capital\u201d). Behiwot Tilahun (@BehiwotTilahun<\/a>) wrote that Rubio \u201cofficially designates the TPLF and its allied coalition as \u2018Separatists\u2019,\u201d and Daniel Daba (@dany_daba<\/a>) posted an Amharic quote attributed to Rubio, followed by a thinking-face emoji, saying the Ethiopian government is responding proportionately to the separatists \u201c\u1208\u12da\u1205\u121d \u12a5\u12cd\u1245\u1293 \u12a5\u1295\u1230\u1323\u1208\u1295\u201d (\u201cand we recognize this\u201d). Neither a designation nor that sentence appears in the State Department transcript. Getachew Reda (@reda_getachew<\/a>), adviser to the prime minister on East African affairs, shared a video clip of the remarks without comment. Zegabi has not verified the claims made in these posts.<\/p>\n

Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n