It was then that Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed signed a “declaration of peace and friendship” with Eritrea. The agreement won him the Nobel Peace Prize the following year. But ties between the Horn of Africa neighbours again deteriorated following the end of the two-year civil war in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, which borders Eritrea.

The leaders of Egypt, Eritrea and Somalia met for a three-way summit in Asmara on Thursday against a backdrop of heightened tensions in the Horn of Africa region. Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, Egypt's Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia met in Asmara,

Egypt is rallying Somalia and Eritrea to a new loose security alliance that may further widen tensions in the Horn of Africa. On Thursday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi landed in Asmara, where Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud had travelled on Wednesday, to hold trilateral talks with host Isaias Afwerki.

Egypt, Somalia and Eritrea pledged to co-operate to prevent interference in the affairs of any state in the Horn of Africa, and to bring peace to the tumultuous region, after leaders of the three countries met in the Eritrean capital on Thursday.