Ethiopia likely to mount raids on Eritrea-based Afar militants in retaliation for militant killing of European tourist

On 3 December, a European tourist was killed during a raid on the Erta Ale volcano tourist site in Ethiopia’s Afar region by gunmen who had crossed the border from nearby Eritrea. Afar regional police guarding the site exchanged fire with the attackers, and military personnel were reportedly subsequently deployed to the area by helicopter.

Claims circulating on social media that other tourists had been kidnapped have not been confirmed, although IHS Markit assesses that the probable motivation of the raid was kidnapping of tourists for ransom, with the most probable perpetrator being the Afar Revolutionary Democratic Union Front (ARDUF).

Source   – IHS Jane’s