Ethiopia has expelled diplomats from Eritrea and Egypt, accusing both countries of supporting armed groups seeking to overthrow Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government, escalating tensions across the Horn of Africa.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (Somali Report) — Ethiopia has sharply escalated its diplomatic confrontation with Eritrea and Egypt, accusing regional rivals of supporting armed groups seeking to overthrow Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government as renewed fighting spreads across the country’s north.
Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry announced Thursday that it was closing the country’s embassy in Eritrea’s capital, Asmara, and declaring 10 Eritrean diplomats persona non grata. The diplomats were ordered to leave Ethiopia within 48 hours. Addis Ababa said the measures were taken in response to what it described as Eritrea’s “direct and indirect acts of hostility and belligerence” against Ethiopia.
The diplomatic action followed accusations by Ethiopian army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula that Eritrea, Egypt and Sudan were providing support to armed groups fighting the federal government. Birhanu has accused Eritrea of providing financial backing to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), while saying Egypt and Sudan were also involved in efforts to support an alliance seeking to remove Abiy from power.
The allegations come after seven Ethiopian armed groups announced the formation of the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival, an alliance that includes the TPLF and armed groups from several regions. The coalition has declared its intention to oust Abiy’s government, while presenting its opposition as a response to what it describes as the federal government’s concentration of power and marginalisation of regional interests.
Fighting between Ethiopian federal forces and the opposition alliance has intensified in northern Ethiopia, particularly in Tigray and neighbouring Afar. The renewed violence has raised concerns that Ethiopia’s internal conflict could once again draw in neighbouring countries and undermine the 2022 peace agreement that ended the previous Tigray war. Reports on Thursday also said explosions were heard in Addis Ababa, while authorities imposed restrictions on drone flights over the capital.
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Cairo has rejected Ethiopia’s accusations. Egypt has said it does not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries and denied supporting armed groups fighting the Ethiopian government. Eritrea has likewise rejected accusations that it is backing the opposition alliance.
Ethiopia also declared an Egyptian diplomatic staff member, Ahmed Moharam Ahmed Soliman, persona non grata on Thursday and ordered him to leave the country within 48 hours. The measure does not amount to a formal severing of diplomatic relations with Egypt, but it represents a further deterioration in relations between Addis Ababa and Cairo.
The rupture with Eritrea, however, went further. After Ethiopia closed its embassy in Asmara and expelled the Eritrean diplomats, Eritrea announced that it had “no option but to reciprocate in kind” and would sever all diplomatic ties with Ethiopia. Asmara accused Addis Ababa of pursuing hostile policies and seeking access to Eritrean ports and coastal territory, allegations Ethiopia rejects.
The latest developments mark a dramatic deterioration in relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea, whose ties had improved after Abiy and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki signed a peace agreement in 2018. The two countries later became military partners during the 2020-2022 Tigray war, but their relationship deteriorated after Eritrea was excluded from the 2022 peace agreement.
The widening confrontation has raised concerns that Ethiopia’s internal conflict could become increasingly regional, with competing governments and armed groups drawing neighbouring states into a new cycle of instability across the Horn of Africa.
About the Author
Ahmed Omar is a senior journalist for Somali Report, based in Mogadishu. He has two decades of experience reporting on Somalia for international and local media. He covers politics, security, governance, business, trade, economic developments and regional affairs.
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