Eritrea rebels struggle as government allies with Gulf states

Armed opposition groups, which have been backed by neighbouring rival Ethiopia, have been struggling to put an end to the 25-year rule of Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki for many years.

UN figures show 5,000 people are leaving Eritrea every month to escape political repression, violence and poverty.

Armed opposition groups, which have been backed by neighbouring rival Ethiopia, have been struggling to put an end to the 25-year rule of Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki for many years.

But new alliances between the Eritrean government and some Gulf Arab states could make that fight a lot harder now.

 

Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford reports from Ethiopia’s Afar region near Eritrea.