Eritrea

the military’s primary responsibilities are external defense, border security, and providing the regime a vehicle for national cohesion; the conscript-based Army is the dominant service since the country's independence in 1991, the Eritrean military has participated in numerous conflicts, including the Hanish Island Crisis with Yemen (1995), the First Congo War (1996-1997), the Second Sudanese Civil War (1996-1998), the Eritrea-Ethiopia War (1998-2000), the Djiboutian-Eritrean border conflict (2008), and the Tigray conflict in Ethiopia (2020-2022); during the Tigray conflict, the Eritrean Defense Forces were accused of human rights abuses; in recent years, it has provided training support to the military of Somalia (2025)

Eritrean Defense Forces (EDF): Eritrean Ground Forces, Eritrean Navy, Eritrean Air Force; People's Militia (aka People's Army or Hizbawi Serawit) (2024)

note: police are responsible for maintaining internal security, but the government sometimes uses the armed forces, reserves, demobilized soldiers, or civilian militia to meet domestic as well as external security requirements; the armed forces have authority to arrest and detain civilians

Eritrea mandates military service for all citizens age 18-40; 18-month conscript service obligation, which reportedly includes 4-6 months of military training and 12 months of military or other national service (military service is most common); in practice, military and national service is often extended indefinitely; citizens up to the age of 59 eligible for recall during mobilization (2025)

the EDF's inventory is comprised primarily of Soviet-era weapons and equipment (2025)

available information varies widely; estimated 150,000-200,000 active Defense Forces (2025)