Ethiopian jet accompanied the defectors once they had entered their airspace.

This dramatic escape from one of the world’s most closed off countries has been confirmed by Eritrean opposition groups.

Ethiopian spokesman for the Red Sea Afar Democratic Organization Nasredin Ahmed Ali says the defectors were flying small-sized fighter jets.

The pilots have been identified and described as very experienced.

An Eritrean official based in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa says he’s unaware of the defection.

Ethiopian spokesman Getachew Reda has declined comment.

Eritrean pilots have defected to Saudi Arabia in the past.

This is the first time they’ve come to Ethiopia.

Eritrea and Ethiopia fought a border for two years until the year 2000 which left tens of thousands dead.

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Tribal clashes are blamed for the attack from South Sudan.

Ethiopia’s Communications Minister Getachew Reda says the attackers are members of South Sudan’s Murle tribe.

The victims are most from the Nuer population.

Ethiopia accommodates thousands of South Sudanese refugees.

They fled the violence that began three years ago when President Salva Kiir sacked his deputy Riek Machar, accusing him of plotting a coup.

Reda says the weekend  attackers are not thought to have any links to the South Sudanese government or rebels.

There a history of conflict in Ethiopia’s Gambella province, where the raid took place.

This is between the Nuer, Machar’s ethnic group,

and the Murle, who they accuse of cattle rustling and stealing children to raise as their own.

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