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The United Nations has designated parts of Eritrea which were formerly considered Phase 2 (moderate-risk) areas as Phase 3, a relatively higher risk designation. Phase 3 now applies to two entire provinces, the Central Zone (“Zoba Me’ekel,” which includes Asmara) and the Southern Zone (“Zoba Debub”) as well as to sub-zones (“ne’us zoba”) within the regions of Anseba and Northern Red Sea. In Anseba, the sub-zones with the new designation include Adi Tekelezian, Elabered, Hagaz, Halhal, Hamalmalo, Geleb, and Keren. In the Northern Red Sea, the sub-zones with the new designations are Dahlak Islands, Foro, Gindae, Gelalo, Massawa, and She’eb. The border areas in Gash Barka area as well as other flash points along the common border with Ethiopia will maintain their standing at Phase 4 and Phase 5. The UN uses the Phase 1-Phase 5 rating in its communiqué to all its field employees to advise them of areas that they and/or their families should avoid. Meanwhile, in an interview with state television Eri-TV, President Isaias Afwerki stated that recent reports of escalation of tension between Eritrea and Ethiopia and reports of the “resumption of imminent war between Eritrea and Ethiopia are the invention of the TPLF [Ethiopian government] and its collaborators designed to divert the prevailing internal crisis in Ethiopia.” |
