Eritrea says US war crimes claims in Ethiopia conflict 'defamatory'

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Eritrea on Tuesday rejected US claims that its forces committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in the conflict in northern Ethiopia, branding the accusations "unsubstantiated and defamatory."

The foreign ministry said in a statement that the allegations constituted a "continuation of unwarranted hostility and demonisation that US administrations have pursued against Eritrea since 2009 to advance their ulterior political agendas."

Washington on Monday accused all parties to the brutal two-year conflict between pro-government forces and Tigrayan rebels of committing war crimes.

But it singled out Ethiopian, Eritrean and regional Amhara forces for crimes against humanity, including killings and sexual violence, without mentioning the rebel Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF).

The Eritrean army, which backed Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government, has been accused of some of the worst atrocities in the war.

The United States has imposted sanctions on Eritrea, an authoritarian state whose relations with Washington were already poor, over the conflict.

But the Eritrean foreign ministry statement said the "litany of TPLF's crimes... were deliberately downplayed and glossed over" by the United States.