Threat
Eritrea does not appear to face a threat from IEDs, though terror groups operate in the country, such as Eritrean Islamic Jihad
Capability
Due to a lack of transparency, Eritrea’s national counterterrorism efforts are difficult to determine. It is believed that the defence forces, police, intelligence and customs share responsibilities for counterterrorism initiatives. The cooperation and coordination of these units is thought to be sporadic. It is likely the personnel would benefit from further training.
Bilateral, regional and international assistance
Denmark aided on counterterrorism finance techniques to Eritrea. This is particularly important given Eritrea’s previous support of extremist groups such as al-Shabaab and as they are not part of any financial action task force body.
Eritrea does not appear to cooperate in many regional or international counterterrorism initiatives. Though UNMAS have engaged with Eritrea to develop a mine action strategic plan and develop capacity. UNMAS have also conducted surveys of the contamination to inform their progress.
NGO and international organisation support
DCA
DCA, with UN assistance, provided training to 120 Eritrean mine clearance personnel from the Eritrean Demining Agency. Due to the success of the training the Eritrean government indicated it may make more soldiers available for such training to engage in demining efforts in Eritrea.
GICHD
The GICHD has aided UNMAS and Eritrean demining efforts in the country through support with information management. They have provided evaluations of the efforts for UNMAS and training on the international standards for mine action. GICHD have also carried out a study on mine action and victim assistance in Eritrea.
To see the areas of the published report, see here. To see a list of all the C-IED actors examined as part of the project, please go here. To read the full report, ‘Addressing the threat posed by IEDs: National, Regional and Global Initiatives’, see here. To see those engaged in the Middle East, the Sahel, North Africa or other highly impacted countries please see here, here, here, and here respectively. This research was made possible by funding from the NATO Counter Improvised Explosive Devices Centre of Excellence (C-IED COE) and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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