Djibouti-Eritrea Confrontation 2008
The Djibouti-Eritrea confrontation in 2008 involved a tense standoff between military forces from both nations near the town of Doumeira, located on the Djibouti-Eritrean border. This incident arose on April 23, 2008, when Djibouti accused Eritrean troops of entering its territory and constructing what Djibouti characterized as fortifications. Eritrea denied these claims, leading to a situation where soldiers from both countries faced each other at dangerously close distances, creating a volatile atmosphere. The broader context of this confrontation is rooted in ongoing regional tensions, particularly involving Eritrea's historical conflicts with Ethiopia and the complex geopolitical dynamics in the Horn of Africa.
Djibouti, a strategic seaport for landlocked Ethiopia, has played a significant role in international military operations, particularly for the United States and France, both of which maintain military bases in the country. The confrontation raised concerns about potential wider regional implications, as it could involve neighboring Ethiopia, which has longstanding tensions with Eritrea. Additionally, the situation has been influenced by various ethnic and political conflicts within the region, as well as the interplay of international interests, including trade agreements and military alliances with countries like Iran. Overall, the incident highlights the precarious balance of power and the intricate web of relationships in the Horn of Africa, where historical grievances and current geopolitical strategies intersect.
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Djibouti-Eritrea Confrontation 2008
Place: Doumeira, Djibouti, on the border with Eritrea.
Incident: On April 23, 2008, the government of Djibouti announced that troops from Eritrea entered the town of Doumeira near the Djibouti-Eritrean border and began digging trenches characterized by Djibouti as "fortifications." Eritrea denied that it had violated Djibouti territory. Troops from both countries confronted each other at a distance of "less than a rifle barrel," in the phrase of a New York Times reporter who visited the site, on the Djibouti side, at the end of May 2008. In one of the few eyewitness accounts of the conflict, New York Times reporter Jeffrey Gettleman described a tense confrontation with "no buffer zone between the soldiers, as there usually is along a contested frontier. Instead, the heavily armed fighters, who are becoming increasingly tense and irritable, are squeezed together on a sweltering hilltop, watching each others' every move."
Parties Involved
- Eritrea occupies a narrow slice of territory between the Red Sea and Ethiopia. Eritrea achieved independence from Ethiopia in 1993, leaving Ethiopia landlocked. Ethiopia has never fully accepted Eritrean independence, and a deadly border war between the two broke out in 1998. Although active hostilities ended, the border dispute remains a source of tension, with a 25-mile wide Security Zone between the two countries monitored by a force from the United Nations. Ethiopia objected to the demarcation line put forward by an international commission in 2002, and the border issue remains open. The rivalry led to accusations by Ethiopia that Eritrea is interfering in other disputes in the area, notably in Somalia. In August 2007 the United States announced that it was considering designating Eritrea as a state sponsor of terrorism for its alleged support of Islamic insurgents in Somalia, although as of 2008 no such declaration had been made. Eritrea engaged in a three-day conflict with Yemen in December 1995 over control of the low-lying Hanish archipelago near the mouth of the Red Sea. In 1996 an international arbitration committee awarded sovereignty to Yemen.
- Djibouti, about the size of Massachusetts with a population of about 700,000, is located on the very tip of the Horn of Africa, east of Ethiopia. Since Eritrean independence it has served as Ethiopia's seaport. Djibouti has also played a role in the American war on terrorism. In 2002 the United States stationed about 1,500 soldiers on a former French military base called Camp Lemonier as part of the Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa, tasked with hunting for Al Qaeda members. That base was expanded in July 2006 from 88 acres to nearly 500 acres under a five-year lease. The mission of the Americans was to hunt for Al Qaeda suspects in Africa and in Yemen, across the Red Sea. Djibouti is also the site of France's largest foreign military base. From 1991-2000 Djibouti was the site of a civil war between ethnic Afars-a mainly nomadic people residing in the Danakil desert that includes parts of Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Eritrea-and the Issas, the dominant tribe of ethnic Somalis in Djibouti, who dominated the government. The rebel Afars fought under the banner of the Front for the Restoration of the Democratic Unity (FRUD).
Broader Impact: The confrontation between Djibouti and Eritrea threatened to involve larger parties, notably the United States and France, both of which maintain military bases in Djibouti. France, the former colonial power in Djibouti, also has a mutual defense agreement with Djibouti. A conflict between Djibouti and Eritrea could also draw in Ethiopia, which has long been technically at war with Eritrea over their border, as well as depending on Djibouti for its only seaport access. On the Eritrean side Iran recently signed a trade agreement and promised to expand its relations.
Context and background: The Horn of Africa region includes five nations--Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Somalia-and has been the site of interrelated religious and ethnic conflicts involving ethnic rivalries and separatist movements, Islamists, and the strategic battle for oil. Agents of Al Qaeda, including Osama bin Laden, have taken refuge there, while fundamentalist Islamists have fought to control Somalia. U.S. armed forces have been directly involved in two civil conflicts, and American embassies in two countries adjacent to the Horn, Tanzania and Kenya, were attacked by Al Qaeda terrorists thought based somewhere in the Horn. (See separate Background Information Summary on the Horn of Africa in this database.) The region's web of conflicts includes long-standing civil wars between ethnic groups, humanitarian disasters brought on by drought, and the global strategic competition to nail down rights to petroleum resources. It is a region where religious and racial differences often take precedence over national identities.
The Horn of Africa is where Islamic Arabic cultures meet black African cultures. Africa is separated from the Arabian Peninsula by the narrow Red Sea (maximum width: 220 miles) and Gulf of Aden, which are linked by the narrow waterway called Bab el Mandeb. Most oil tankers bound for Europe from the Gulf pass through the Bab el Mandeb en route to the Suez Canal.
In the early 1960s the Horn was the scene of Cold War tensions. The United States established listening posts in Ethiopia and backed its emperor, Haile Selassie. The Soviet Union established a presence in neighboring Somalia. Over the next decades virtually every state in the Horn of Africa was locked in struggle-- independence movements, racial conflicts, or religious conflicts. Osama bin Laden and several of his Al Qaeda followers at one point took shelter in Sudan, but were later expelled at the insistence of the United States, traveling to Afghanistan instead.