ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Ethiopia and Eritrea have severed diplomatic ties in the most serious rupture between the neighbors in years, as renewed fighting in northern Ethiopia raises fears of a return to the devastating civil war that ended in 2022.
Ethiopia’s foreign ministry said Thursday it had closed its embassy in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, and ordered 10 Eritrean diplomats to leave the country within 48 hours, citing what it called Eritrea’s “direct and indirect acts of hostility and belligerence against Ethiopia.” Eritrea responded by severing all diplomatic ties, with its information ministry telling Reuters that by expelling all Eritrean diplomats, Ethiopia was effectively closing Eritrea’s embassy in Addis Ababa. Ethiopia also declared an Egyptian diplomat persona non grata, according to state media, Reuters reported.
Addis Ababa has accused Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt of backing an opposition alliance led by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, that has battled troops loyal to Ethiopia’s federal government since last week. The three countries deny the accusations. The clashes mark the biggest escalation of fighting in Ethiopia since the end of the 2020-2022 civil war, in which hundreds of thousands of people were killed. Eritrea fought in support of Ethiopia’s federal government during that conflict.
Diplomatic sources told Reuters overnight blasts were heard in Addis Ababa, and an opposition-linked source claimed drone strikes had hit military targets — claims that could not be independently verified. Banking and communications have been disrupted in parts of the country, and tourists were reported stranded in the historic town of Lalibela, according to regional reports. The African Union commission urged the three countries to exercise “maximum restraint” and avoid actions that could undermine regional peace and stability.
Underpinning the crisis is a wider web of rivalries, Reuters reported Friday, including a feud between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates that has spilled into the Horn of Africa, and Ethiopia’s long-standing quest to regain direct access to the sea, which it lost when Eritrea gained independence in 1993. Diplomats and analysts say Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki is, for now, providing rebels with access to the coast and the wider world through his country, Reuters said. The head of Ethiopia’s military has accused Sudan and Egypt of supporting Eritrean operations inside Ethiopia; both countries deny any meddling.