"Eritrea resumed its activity in IGAD and took its seat" at a summit organised by the seven-nation bloc in Djibouti on Monday, Meskel said on Twitter.

"Eritrea affirmed its readiness to endeavour, in conjunction with all Member States, to the rejuvenation and effectiveness of IGAD and advancement of peace, stability and regional integration", he added.

The authoritarian state suspended its membership of IGAD in 2007 following a string of disagreements, including over the bloc's decision to ask Kenya to oversee the resolution of a border dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Eritrea broke away from Ethiopia in 1993 and fought a two-year border war with its neighbour which poisoned relations until a peace agreement in 2018.

Eritrea was sanctioned by the United States in 2021 after sending troops into northern Ethiopia's Tigray region in support of Ethiopian forces and has been accused of massacring hundreds of civilians.