The United Nations Security Council voted on Wednesday to disband its peacekeeping mission to the volatile border between Eritrea and Ethiopia after Eritrea forced out most of the UN troops.
The mandate for the 1 700-strong force expires on Thursday. The council unanimously approved a resolution drafted by Belgium that calls for the mission to be terminated and all peacekeeping personnel to be withdrawn.
The resolution calls on the two sides ”to show maximum restraint and refrain from any threat or use of force against each other, and to avoid provocative military activities”.
The United Nations withdrew its peacekeeping force from the border in February after Eritrea cut off fuel supplies. The force had been in place since 2000 after a two-year war between the Horn of Africa neighbours that killed 70 000 people.
Eritrea is angry that the UN has not enforced a ruling by an independent boundary commission awarding most disputed border territory, including the town of Badme, to Eritrea.
The resolution also called on both Ethiopia and Eritrea to adhere to the peace agreement they signed in Algiers in 2000 while condemning Eritrea’s ”lack of cooperation” with the UN force
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned in April that the withdrawal of the peacekeepers could spark renewed conflict on the 1 000km frontier.
Originally the United Nations wanted to extend its mandate and keep small monitoring missions on both sides of the border, or liaison offices in Asmara and Addis Ababa, but negotiations on the issue collapsed, council diplomats said. — Reuters