Adulis Review checks claims made by international media about Eritrea and the Horn of Africa against primary documents, archived sources and on-the-record statements.https://adulisreview.org/en-gbhttps://adulisreview.org/claims/al-jazeera-ethiopian-army-said-drone-strikes/https://adulisreview.org/claims/al-jazeera-ethiopian-army-said-drone-strikes/Al Jazeera reported that Ethiopia's army “said it launched drone strikes against Eritrean troops”. We found no such statement. Reuters reported that spokespeople for Ethiopia's government, military and prime minister's office did not respond to questions about the strikes, and AFP that neither Ethiopia nor Eritrea had responded. The only attribution of the strikes to Ethiopia came from the conflict monitor ACLED, which said they were “believed” to be Ethiopian.Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTUnsupportedEthiopiaEritreaTigrayhttps://adulisreview.org/claims/apa-news-asmara-imminent-danger-advance/https://adulisreview.org/claims/apa-news-asmara-imminent-danger-advance/APA News reported that Eritrean forces were advancing in Ethiopian territory “to counter, according to Asmara, an ‘imminent danger’” from Ethiopia's army. That puts in Eritrea's mouth a reason for an incursion Eritrea denies making. We found no Eritrean statement giving such a justification. Eritrea's information minister denied that Eritrean forces were in Adigrat, and its foreign minister told the UN that claims of an incursion were a pretext for war.Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTMisleadingEritreaEthiopiaTigrayhttps://adulisreview.org/claims/eepa-afar-active-combat-zones-ethiopian-eritrean-forces/https://adulisreview.org/claims/eepa-afar-active-combat-zones-ethiopian-eritrean-forces/EEPA's situation report of 12 October states that four areas of Ethiopia's Afar region are “active combat zones” between Ethiopian and Eritrean forces, with infantry, heavy weapons and aircraft. It gives no source, though the items around it are attributed. We found no news agency or conflict monitor reporting such fighting. The conflict monitor ACLED, the most-cited source on Eritrean troop movements, records none in Afar.Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTUnsupportedEritreaEthiopiaAfarhttps://adulisreview.org/claims/express-tribune-eritrean-troops-photo-ethiopian-army-vehicle/https://adulisreview.org/claims/express-tribune-eritrean-troops-photo-ethiopian-army-vehicle/The Express Tribune published an AFP report on Eritrean troops in Tigray under a photo of a sand-coloured armoured vehicle, captioned “Eritrean troops deployed in Ethiopia's Tigray region”. The same photo, published a day earlier by News24 and credited to Reuters, is captioned as members of the Ethiopian National Defense Force on patrol in Mekelle. The vehicle matches a UAE-built model supplied to Ethiopia's army. Nothing in the photo is Eritrean.Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTFalseEritreaEthiopiaTigrayhttps://adulisreview.org/claims/horn-review-eritrean-soldiers-fighting-for-saf/https://adulisreview.org/claims/horn-review-eritrean-soldiers-fighting-for-saf/A Horn Review article's headline and graphic say “Eritrean soldiers continue fighting” for the Sudanese Armed Forces. The article's own evidence is about something else: Sudanese armed groups trained in Eritrea, which its sources describe as Sudanese militias. One source reports an Eritrean unit held on standby in case the war reached eastern Sudan. We found no report from a news agency or UN panel of Eritrean soldiers fighting in Sudan.Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTMisleadingEritreaSudanhttps://adulisreview.org/claims/nbc-news-photo-tigray-peace-force-called-opposition/https://adulisreview.org/claims/nbc-news-photo-tigray-peace-force-called-opposition/NBC News illustrated an AP story on Eritrean soldiers in Tigray with an AP photo of two armed men on a Mekelle pavement, captioned “Tigrayan opposition fighters”. AP's own caption for the same photo says they are Tigray Peace Force fighters who had just entered the city. The Tigray Peace Force is a militia allied with Ethiopia's government, and the story's only named source is one of its commanders. NBC labelled the government's allies as the opposition.Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTFalseTigrayEthiopiaEritreahttps://adulisreview.org/claims/new-humanitarian-eritrean-forces-crossed-the-border/https://adulisreview.org/claims/new-humanitarian-eritrean-forces-crossed-the-border/An analysis in The New Humanitarian, headlined “Eritrean incursions raise fears of a wider regional war in Ethiopia”, opens by stating as fact that Eritrean forces crossed the border and that Ethiopia struck them with drones. The evidence it links to is a BBC report of residents' accounts. The news agencies said they could not verify the incursion, we found no published Ethiopian statement claiming the drone strikes, and Eritrea denies the incursion.Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTUnsupportedEritreaEthiopiaTigrayhttps://adulisreview.org/claims/outlook-india-drone-attack-eritrean-troops-yemen-photo/https://adulisreview.org/claims/outlook-india-drone-attack-eritrean-troops-yemen-photo/Outlook India illustrated its report of Ethiopian drone strikes on Eritrean troops with an Associated Press photo of armed men on a pickup truck in front of a war-damaged building. The photo was taken in Mocha, Yemen, in February 2018. The article also states in its own voice that Eritrean troops crossed into Tigray, and calls this the “first confirmed presence” of Eritrean forces, while leaving out Reuters' statement that it could not verify the information and Eritrea's denial that its troops were there.Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTMisleadingEritreaEthiopiaTigrayhttps://adulisreview.org/claims/africanews-eritrean-forces-have-since-invaded/https://adulisreview.org/claims/africanews-eritrean-forces-have-since-invaded/An Africanews report on Eritrea's appeal to the UN states as fact that “Eritrean forces have since invaded Ethiopian territory”. The same article attributes the invasion claim to Ethiopia's government and reports Eritrea's denial twice. The record behind the claim consists of witness accounts that the news agencies could not verify, anonymous sources, a conflict monitor that does not name its sources, and Ethiopia's own allegation.Tue, 13 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTUnsupportedEritreaEthiopiaTigrayhttps://adulisreview.org/claims/al-arabiya-eritrea-suffers-heavy-losses/https://adulisreview.org/claims/al-arabiya-eritrea-suffers-heavy-losses/Al Arabiya English illustrated a militia's claim that Eritrean troops have suffered “heavy losses” with a photo of a burnt-out vehicle. The photo is a Reuters picture of the aftermath of a drone strike during fighting between Ethiopia's army and the TPLF. It does not show Eritrean losses. The claim itself is unverified: AFP, which reported it, says it could not confirm it, Eritrea rejects it, and no figures have been produced. The post leaves out both caveats.Tue, 13 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTMisleadingTigrayEthiopiaEritreahttps://adulisreview.org/claims/ap-headline-eritrean-forces-seen-entering-towns/https://adulisreview.org/claims/ap-headline-eritrean-forces-seen-entering-towns/The Associated Press first headlined its 8 October report as a claim: Eritrean soldiers entered two towns, “government-allied commander says”. Within hours the headline was rewritten to state that Eritrean forces were “seen entering towns” after “crossing border”. NBC News ran the same AP story as “Eritrean troops cross into northern Ethiopia”. The story beneath every version still says AP could not verify either of its two sources.Tue, 13 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTUnsupportedTigrayEthiopiaEritreahttps://adulisreview.org/claims/eepa-eritrea-prisoners-conscripted-employees-armed/https://adulisreview.org/claims/eepa-eritrea-prisoners-conscripted-employees-armed/EEPA's situation report of 12 October says Eritrea has released prisoners, including from Adi Abeyto, into the army, and issued firearms to all government employees. Both claims come from one unnamed “internal source”, and we found no other report of either. The report presents the arming of government employees as news while leaving out that Eritrea has armed civilians, government employees among them, through a compulsory militia since 2012.Tue, 13 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTMisleadingEritreahttps://adulisreview.org/claims/umd-media-ethiopian-forces-cross-into-eritrea-daba-sima/https://adulisreview.org/claims/umd-media-ethiopian-forces-cross-into-eritrea-daba-sima/UMD Media reported, citing one unnamed source close to Ethiopia's government, that Ethiopian troops crossed into Eritrea on 11 October and took the village of Daba Sima, about 50 km from Assab. The claim has since been repeated by a European situation report and on Wikipedia. Hours later UMD Media itself reported that local sources in Afar dismissed it. No news agency, monitor or government has confirmed it, and the only accounts from the area contradict it.Tue, 13 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTFalseEritreaEthiopiaAfarAssabhttps://adulisreview.org/claims/guardian-headline-drone-attack-eritrean-troops-crossed/https://adulisreview.org/claims/guardian-headline-drone-attack-eritrean-troops-crossed/A Guardian headline states two things as fact: that Eritrean troops crossed into Tigray, and that Ethiopia launched a drone attack on them. The article beneath attributes both to witnesses, a government-allied commander and a conflict monitor. None of those accounts has been independently verified, Ethiopia has not said it carried out any strike, and Eritrea has not confirmed its troops were there.Sun, 11 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTUnsupportedTigrayEthiopiaEritreahttps://adulisreview.org/claims/bbc-headline-eritrean-troops-cross-border/https://adulisreview.org/claims/bbc-headline-eritrean-troops-cross-border/A BBC headline states as fact that Eritrean troops have crossed the border into Ethiopia. The article beneath it attributes the crossing to residents, and the BBC's own report two days earlier said it had “not yet been able to independently verify any of the reported troop movements”. Nothing published since shows that this has changed. The headline presents as established what the BBC's reporting still treats as a report.Fri, 09 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTUnsupportedTigrayEthiopiaEritreahttps://adulisreview.org/claims/channel-4-why-is-eritrea-invading-ethiopia/https://adulisreview.org/claims/channel-4-why-is-eritrea-invading-ethiopia/A Channel 4 News post on X asked why Eritrea is “invading Ethiopia”. The question treats the invasion as established. The reports behind it are anonymous witness accounts that no news organisation says it has verified, claims by Ethiopia's government and a conflict monitor's report; Eritrea has denied them. The link in the post leads to a page on Channel 4's website that does not exist, so the headline is all that readers of the post get.Fri, 09 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTUnsupportedTigrayEthiopiaEritreahttps://adulisreview.org/claims/conflict-zone-eritrean-forces-entering-large-numbers/https://adulisreview.org/claims/conflict-zone-eritrean-forces-entering-large-numbers/An anonymous X account posted that Eritrean forces are entering Ethiopia “in large numbers” at eight named places in eastern and northwestern Tigray, with artillery at a ninth. It cites no source. None of those places appears in any news agency, monitor or government account we could find. The only reported crossing point in the public record is Zalambessa, and the latest witness accounts there describe Eritrean troops moving back north, not further in.Fri, 09 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTUnsupportedTigrayEthiopiaEritreaSocial mediahttps://adulisreview.org/claims/endf-map-assab-ethiopia/https://adulisreview.org/claims/endf-map-assab-ethiopia/A map displayed by Ethiopian army officers appears to show Eritrea's port of Assab and its Southern Red Sea region as part of Ethiopia. They are Eritrean territory. The border was fixed by an international commission in 2002 under an agreement both countries signed, Ethiopia formally accepted that ruling in 2018, and Ethiopia's prime minister has himself spoken of “regaining” Assab.Fri, 09 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTFalseRed SeaAssabEthiopiaEritreahttps://adulisreview.org/claims/eritrea-did-not-deny-troops-crossed-border/https://adulisreview.org/claims/eritrea-did-not-deny-troops-crossed-border/The National reported flatly that Eritrea did not deny its troops had crossed the border. That is true of one social media post by Eritrea's information minister, but Reuters reported the same day that he denied Eritrean forces were there and accused Ethiopia of fabricating allegations. Leaving that out gives readers the impression Eritrea tacitly accepted the reports.Fri, 09 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTMisleadingTigrayEthiopiaEritreahttps://adulisreview.org/claims/ethiopia-claim-eritrean-soldiers-killed-captured/https://adulisreview.org/claims/ethiopia-claim-eritrean-soldiers-killed-captured/On 4 October, Ethiopian government official Abraham Belay said many Eritrean soldiers had been killed and captured. Five days later we have found no figures, names, images or independent confirmation to support it, and no international news agency has reported verifying it. That does not show the claim is false. It shows it has not been backed up.Fri, 09 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTUnsupportedTigrayEthiopiaEritreahttps://adulisreview.org/claims/ethiopia-un-letter-all-out-invasion/https://adulisreview.org/claims/ethiopia-un-letter-all-out-invasion/In a letter to the UN Security Council, Ethiopia said an Eritrean “all-out invasion” of northern Ethiopia was “a matter of public record”. The public record we reviewed contains unverified witness accounts, a conflict monitor's report and an Eritrean denial. It does not contain independent confirmation that Eritrean troops are in Ethiopia, let alone an all-out invasion.Fri, 09 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTUnsupportedTigrayEthiopiaEritreaUnited Nations