Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki has warned neighbour Ethiopia against launching a new war between the two countries, with tensions high in the Horn of Africa region.

Eritrea and Ethiopia have had fraught relations since the former declared independence in 1993, with tens of thousands of people killed in a war between the two from 1998 to 2000.

At the heart of the current tension, according to the Eritrean government, is landlocked Ethiopia's long-held desire for a seaport.

Afwerki, who has ruled Eritrea since independence, told Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed that he would not be able to simply overwhelm his country by weight of numbers – Ethiopia's population is 130 million, compared to just 3.5 million people living in Eritrea.

'Unwanted wars'

"If he thinks he can overwhelm (Eritrean forces) with human wave attack, (he is mistaken)," Afwerki told state television channel Eri-TV.

"Before dragging the people of Ethiopia into unwanted wars or using them for another political agenda, the country's internal problems must be first addressed and solved," he said.

He called Abiy's actions an attempt to "divert attention" from domestic problems.

Abiy signed a peace deal with Afwerki shortly after coming to power in 2018, but a violent conflict erupted in Ethiopia's Tigray province from 2020 to 2022 as Eritrea's forces backed rebels there fighting Ethiopian troops. In 2020, Eritrea denied troop incursion into Ethiopia's Tigray region.

Ethiopia's bid to access sea

At least 600,000 people were killed in the conflict, according to an African Union estimate.

Although a peace deal ended the fighting, Eritrea has maintained a military presence in Tigray and relations between the neighbours have deteriorated.

Abiy has repeatedly said Ethiopia must have access to the sea, but by peaceful means.

Last month, a report by a US monitoring group accused Eritrea of rebuilding its army and destabilising its neighbours.

Arms sanctions lifted

Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Ghebremeskel criticised the report by NGO The Sentry and blamed "the new tension in the region" on Ethiopia.

Eritrea had been under US arms sanctions that were lifted after the 2018 peace deal.