Eritrean National Airline Makes First Flight in Decades to Ethiopia

Eritrea's President Isaias Afwerki (R) and Ethiopia's PM Abiy Ahmed (L) raise Eritrea's flag marking the reopening of the Eritrean embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, July 16, 2018. (Reuters)
Eritrea's President Isaias Afwerki (R) and Ethiopia's PM Abiy Ahmed (L) raise Eritrea's flag marking the reopening of the Eritrean embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, July 16, 2018. (Reuters)
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Eritrean National Airline Makes First Flight in Decades to Ethiopia

Eritrea's President Isaias Afwerki (R) and Ethiopia's PM Abiy Ahmed (L) raise Eritrea's flag marking the reopening of the Eritrean embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, July 16, 2018. (Reuters)
Eritrea's President Isaias Afwerki (R) and Ethiopia's PM Abiy Ahmed (L) raise Eritrea's flag marking the reopening of the Eritrean embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, July 16, 2018. (Reuters)

For the first time in 20 years, Eritrea’s national airline made its first commercial flight to Ethiopia on Saturday as the two neighbors continued their peace process, ending years of conflict.

An Eritrean Airlines plane carrying the country's transport and tourism ministers landed at the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, where it was welcomed by senior Ethiopian officials.

Already last month, the Ethiopia's own flag carrier, Ethiopian Airlines, had made its first commercial flight in the other direction, landing in Asmara International Airport on July 18.

Once a province of Ethiopia, Eritrea seceded in 1993 after a long independence struggle. A row over the demarcation of the shared border triggered a brutal 1998-2000 conflict which left 80,000 people dead before evolving into a bitter cold war.

But in a surprise move in June, Ethiopia's new reformist Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced he would finally accept a 2002 United Nations-backed border demarcation, paving the way for peace between the two nations.

He then paid a historic visit to Eritrea, during which he and President Isaias Afwerki declared an official end to the war. Afwerki reciprocated with a state visit to Ethiopia just days later.

Embassies have since been reopened and phone lines between the two countries have also been restored.

Eritrean Airlines currently has only one leased airplane.

"The new route will expand existing regional flights of the airline to Cairo, Khartoum, Jeddah and Dubai," Eritrea's information minister Yemane Gebre Meskel said on Twitter.

Last month, Ethiopian Airlines chief executive Tewolde GebreMariam revealed his state-owned company was in talks to buy a stake in Eritrean Airlines as part of efforts to boost commercial ties between the two countries, who were once each others' biggest trading partners.

Ethiopia's flag carrier is the most profitable in Africa and in recent years has been has been buying shares in other African airlines.



Trump Deploys Marines, Raising Tensions in Los Angeles Protests

Members of the California National Guard stand watch outside the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building on the morning of June 10, 2025, following another day of protests in response to federal immigration operations in Los Angeles. (AFP)
Members of the California National Guard stand watch outside the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building on the morning of June 10, 2025, following another day of protests in response to federal immigration operations in Los Angeles. (AFP)
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Trump Deploys Marines, Raising Tensions in Los Angeles Protests

Members of the California National Guard stand watch outside the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building on the morning of June 10, 2025, following another day of protests in response to federal immigration operations in Los Angeles. (AFP)
Members of the California National Guard stand watch outside the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building on the morning of June 10, 2025, following another day of protests in response to federal immigration operations in Los Angeles. (AFP)

Hundreds of Marines were due to arrive in Los Angeles on Tuesday after US President Donald Trump ordered their deployment in response to protests against immigration arrests and despite objections by state officials.

The 700 crack troops will join National Guard soldiers, amping up the militarization of the tense situation in the sprawling city, which is home to millions of foreign-born and Latino residents.

The largely peaceful demonstrations -- marred by sporadic but violent clashes between police and protesters -- were entering their fifth day. The unrest was sparked by a sudden intensification of Trump's signature campaign to deport illegal migrants, with raids conducted on workplaces.

In downtown LA's Little Tokyo neighborhood at night Monday, scores of protesters faced off with security officials in riot gear, some shooting fireworks at officers who fired back volleys of tear gas.

Earlier, demonstrators marching with banners and handmade signs yelled "ICE out of LA" and "National Guard go away" -- a reference to immigration agents and Guard soldiers.

California officials have stressed the majority of protesters have been peaceful and that they were capable of maintaining law and order themselves.

Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom wrote on X that US Marines "shouldn't be deployed on American soil facing their own countrymen to fulfill the deranged fantasy of a dictatorial President. This is un-American."

Trump, meanwhile, has branded the LA protesters "professional agitators and insurrectionists."

"If I didn't 'SEND IN THE TROOPS' to Los Angeles the last three nights, that once beautiful and great City would be burning to the ground right now," he wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday.

One small business owner in the city, whose property was graffitied during the protests, was supportive of Trump's strong-arm tactics.

"I think it's needed to stop the vandalism," she told AFP, declining to give her name.

Others were horrified.

"They're meant to be protecting us, but instead, they're like, being sent to attack us," Kelly Diemer, 47, told AFP. "This is not a democracy anymore."

Police have detained dozens of protesters in LA in the recent days, while authorities in San Francisco and other US cities have also made arrests.

- 'Incredibly rare' -

Trump's use of the military is an "incredibly rare" move for a US president, Rachel VanLandingham, a professor at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles and a former lieutenant colonel in the US Air Force, told AFP.

The National Guard -- a fully equipped reserve armed forces -- is usually controlled by state governors and used typically on US soil in response to natural disasters.

The Guard has not been deployed by a president over the objections of a state governor since 1965, at the height of the civil rights movement.

Deployment of regular troops, such as the Marines, on US soil is even more unusual.

US law largely prevents the use of the military as a policing force -- absent an insurrection. Speculation is growing that Trump could invoke the Insurrection Act giving him a free hand to use regular troops for law enforcement around the country.

The Pentagon said late Monday that Trump had authorized an extra 2,000 state guardsmen to LA.

The state of California has sued to block the use of the Guard troops and Newsom said he would also sue against the Marines deployment.