The Eastern Front was strengthened after 17 Beja rioters were killed by police in Port Sudan in late January 2005 and angry young Beja men began to join rebel camps in Eritrea. The Eritrean government in Asmara supported the Eastern Front apparently in retaliation for Sudanese support to the Eritrean Islamist factions. Meanwhile, the JEM has formed an alliance with the Eastern Front and moved troops into the region apparently in an attempt to position itself as a national movement, rather than one limited to its Darfur homeland.