A Djiboutian soldier in an undisclosed location along the border with Eritrea, June 15, 2008. (OMAR HASSAN/REUTERS)
ESAT News (June 19, 2017)
A pullout by Qatari forces last week from a disputed border area between Eritrea and Djibouti is feared to resuscitate a border conflict between the two countries, according to reports.
About 450 strong Qatari forces were deployed along the border in 2010 to man a buffer zone between the two countries. But that changed last week, when the Gulf state abruptly pulled its troops from the border zone with no explanation, according to Newsweek.
A remote area called Ras Doumeira is the flash point of the border crisis between the two neighboring countries.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have accused Qatar of funding and supporting terrorist groups including ISIS and the countries imposes political and economic sanctions. Several African and Arab states, including Eritrea and Djibouti, have joined the Gulf states but Somalia has refused to take sides.
According to the report, Djibouti says that Eritrea has swooped in to occupy Ras Doumeira following the Qatari pullout. Djibouti’s ambassador to Ethiopia, Mohammed Idriss Farah, told the AP that Eritrean forces had “moved in right after the peacekeepers left” and occupied the mountainous region.
In a statement Saturday, Eritrea’s information ministry said that it had “not to date obtained any information on the withdrawal” from Qatar. But the Eritrean government noted that the “hasty decision” had been taken “against the backdrop of a turbulent climate,” a nod to the diplomatic standoff in the Gulf, the Newsweek report said.