Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what information they have about (1) missile attacks on Asmara, and (2) the presence of Ethiopian troops on Eritrean territory; and what assessment they have made of the impact of the movement of Ethiopian soldiers from Somalia for the containment of al-Shabaab.

Explosions were reported in Asmara on 14 November as a result of rockets launched from the ongoing military conflict in Tigray, Ethiopia. They all missed their intended targets and only minor injuries were reported. There has been no direct response from the local authorities. The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) have taken responsibility, claiming it was in retaliation for attacks by Eritrean forces on Tigray. Eritrea denies any involvement in the fighting. We continue to track the situation, raise our concerns at the deaths of civilians, and raise the importance of respect for human rights in meetings with regional leaders.

Ethiopian troops are an important part of international efforts to tackle Al Shabaab, in particular through their contribution (alongside four other regional states) to the African Union Mission in Somalia, AMISOM. In our approach to the conflict in Tigray we will continue to underline the need to ensure that spill-over from the conflict does not affect regional stability.