“Eritrea’s government denied Ethiopian allegations and accused Addis Ababa of an unprovoked war of aggression aimed at forcing regime change in Asmara.” — Eritrea’s government. Our verdict: Unverified.

What we found

The evidence

• Background

  The BBC reported that Eritrea's Information Minister publicly called the conflict an 'unprovoked war of aggression' by Ethiopia. [1]

• Background

  Al Jazeera reported that Eritrea's Information Minister described Ethiopia's actions as a 'war of aggression' and rejected Ethiopia's 'self-defence' narrative. [2]

• Background

  An Eritrean Ministry of Foreign Affairs press release accused Ethiopia of pursuing 'regime change' in Eritrea. [3]

• Background

  African Business reported that the Eritrean government denied the presence of its forces in Ethiopia and accused Ethiopia of a 'war of aggression'. [4]

• Supports the claim

  Shabait published a statement on 10 October 2026 in which the Eritrean government explicitly rejected Ethiopian claims sent to the UN Security Council as a pretext for war and called them baseless deception. [5]

• Background

  Mereja reported on Ethiopian military actions and demands regarding Eritrean troops, but gave no information on the Eritrean government's response. [6]

What we could not confirm

• Whether Eritrea's government used the exact phrase 'unprovoked war of aggression' in an official statement, rather than only in reported remarks.
• Whether the regime-change accusation was repeated in Eritrean statements during the 7–8 October 2026 timeframe.
• Whether different official Eritrean outlets used different wording for the same claims.

How we checked

We looked at Eritrean government press releases and statements, and at reports from the BBC, Al Jazeera, African Business and Mereja covering the same period. We searched for direct quotes of the exact phrases used in the claim, and for any independent confirmation of the regime-change accusation. We reviewed 6 relevant sources.