Every war the Eritrean Air Force has fought
The air-to-air claims of the 1998–2000 war are almost all Ethiopian: Ethiopia claims seven MiG-29s, Wikipedia says two to four can be confirmed, Eritrea disputes the claims of May 2000 and has published no figures of its own. The Mekele raid of 5 June 1998 is given as the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission found it, with Eritrea’s position that the civilian deaths were an accident. In the Tigray war the air force’s own role is unreported, and the Adi Daero strike of September 2022 attributed to Eritrea is an allegation. Where a consolidated sortie or loss figure exists in the official record it is given here; where accounts disagree, the range is shown and the disagreement named. Blank cells are blank because no figure could be verified, not because the fighting was small.
From the Badme war of 1998–2000 to the Tigray war of 2020–2022.
| Conflict | Years | Against | Main aircraft | Sorties | Aircraft lost | |
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| Eritrean–Ethiopian Warthe Badme warEritrean Air Force | 1998–2000 | Ethiopia | MB-339CE, MiG-29, MiG-29UB | 5 | ||
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Strikes on Mekele and other Ethiopian targets with MB-339s, air defence of Asmara, and MiG-29 interceptions against the Ethiopian Air Force. The war began in May 1998. On 5 June Ethiopian jets bombed Asmara airport and Eritrean MB-339s struck Mekele. The Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission later found that the third and fourth sorties dropped cluster bombs on the Ayder School neighbourhood, killing 53 civilians including 12 schoolchildren and wounding 185, and held Eritrea liable for failing to take all feasible precautions; Eritrea said the bombing was an accident incidental to a legitimate attack on the airport. One Ethiopian jet was shot down over Asmara on 5–6 June and its pilot, Bezabeh Petros, captured. Ethiopia reported an MB-339 shot down north of Mekele on 6 June and MB-339 raids on Adigrat on 12 June; the Commission dismissed Ethiopia’s Adigrat claims for lack of proof. On 26 June the Security Council noted both sides’ pledges to end air strikes. Ethiopia accused Eritrea of breaking the moratorium at Adigrat on 6 February 1999, then withdrew the claim. From February 1999 Ethiopia’s new Su-27s met Eritrea’s MiG-29s; Ethiopia reported kills on 25 and 26 February 1999 and more in May 2000, which Eritrea disputes. The Commission also held Ethiopia liable for bombing the Harsile water reservoir. Total war deaths are estimated at 70,000 to 300,000. Outcome The Algiers Agreement of 12 December 2000 ended the war and the Boundary Commission awarded Badme to Eritrea on 14 April 2002. Peace was made in July 2018. Almost every air-to-air figure is an Ethiopian claim or a Wikipedia tally citing secondary literature; Eritrea has not published its own. Only the Mekele and Harsile findings come from a tribunal.
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| Tigray Warthe war in northern EthiopiaEritrean Defence Forces | 2020–2022 | Tigray People’s Liberation Front / Tigray Defence Forces | ||||
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Eritrean ground forces fought alongside the Ethiopian federal army; the air force’s own role is largely unreported. Wikipedia lists the war among the air force’s engagements. On 14 November 2020 Tigrayan forces fired missiles at Asmara; the Tigray government said it was targeting military sites used for air strikes on Tigray, and Wikipedia reports the missiles missed. Wikipedia’s Tigray War article records an air strike on Adi Daero on 27 September 2022 that killed at least six civilians and was "allegedly carried out by Eritrea"; we found no Eritrean statement and no independent finding attributing it. Reports that Emirati drones operated from Assab were described by Wikipedia as unconfirmed. Outcome The Pretoria cessation of hostilities was signed on 2 November 2022; Eritrea was not a party. Human Rights Watch reported Eritrean forces still in parts of Tigray in its 2026 report. No Eritrean Air Force operation in this war has been confirmed by the Eritrean government, a UN body or major media in the sources we could reach; the Adi Daero attribution is an allegation.
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Every figure, checked
- Permanent Court of Arbitration: Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission (case page)List of the Commission’s partial and final awards; final damages awards 17 August 2009.
- Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission: Partial Award, Central Front, Ethiopia’s Claim 2 (28 April 2004)Four MB-339 sorties on Mekele on 5 June 1998; the third and fourth dropped cluster bombs near Ayder School, killing 53 civilians including 12 schoolchildren and wounding 185; Eritrea held liable for failing to take all feasible precautions; Adigrat claims dismissed for lack of proof.
- Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission: Partial Award, Western Front, Aerial Bombardment and Related Claims (19 December 2005)Ethiopia’s bombing campaign as a whole not found indiscriminate despite "regrettable errors"; Ethiopia liable for attacks on the Harsile water reservoir, an object indispensable to Assab’s civilians.
- Human Rights Watch: World Report 2026 – EritreaTensions with Ethiopia over sea access; national service extended indefinitely since 1998; Eritrean forces still in parts of Tigray.
Figures verified 2026-10-01. Back to the Eritrean Air Force.