Ethiopia and Eritrea Cut Diplomatic Ties as Tigray Fighting Escalates

Ethiopia and Eritrea have cut diplomatic ties as renewed fighting in northern Ethiopia deepens a rift between the neighbours and raises fears of a wider regional conflict. On Thursday, Ethiopia said it was closing its embassy in Asmara and ordered 10 Eritrean diplomats to leave within 48 hours, accusing them of activities that threatened national security, the BBC and DW reported.

Eritrea responded by severing relations. Its foreign ministry called the expulsion “astounding” and said it had “no option but to reciprocate in kind and sever all diplomatic ties with Ethiopia,” warning of “negative corollaries,” according to the BBC. DW quoted Eritrea calling the move “absurd” after the expulsion effectively shuttered its embassy in Addis Ababa.

Explosions in the capital

The diplomatic breach came hours after powerful explosions were heard overnight in Addis Ababa, including near Ethiopia’s military headquarters. AFP, cited by DW, reported a blast at Ethiopian National Defense Force headquarters between midnight and 1:00 a.m. local time, based on diplomatic and security sources who could not confirm the cause or any casualties. The Associated Press, also cited by DW, reported three blasts after the government banned drone use in the capital. It remained unclear whether the explosions were an attack or related to training.

Why relations collapsed

Ethiopia’s foreign ministry said it was shutting the Asmara embassy “in response to Eritrea’s direct and indirect acts of hostility and belligerence,” DW reported. Addis Ababa has accused Eritrea of supporting a new rebel alliance that includes the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and other groups — an allegation Asmara has repeatedly denied.

In a rare response to the BBC before ties were cut, Eritrea’s information minister, Yemane Gebremeskel, denied involvement in Tigray fighting and said Ethiopia’s ruling Prosperity Party was blaming neighbours to divert attention from domestic conflicts. A pro-government militia commander told the BBC that Eritrean soldiers were on the front lines; the BBC said it could not independently verify that claim and that reporting from Tigray is constrained by an internet cut.

The rupture reverses the 2018 rapprochement that reopened the border and helped earn Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019. The two countries were allies during the 2020–2022 Tigray war, when Eritrean troops fought alongside Ethiopian forces against the TPLF. Relations later soured, especially over Ethiopia’s push for Red Sea access after losing its coastline when Eritrea became independent in 1993.

Fighting across the north

Federal forces are battling TPLF fighters and allies in Tigray, Afar and Amhara. Last month the TPLF joined six other armed movements, including Amhara’s Fano militia, in an alliance that says it aims to remove Abiy’s government. An African Union mediator previously estimated that about 600,000 people died in the earlier two-year Tigray war. A doctor in Alamata told the BBC that at least 52 civilians were killed in three days of intense fighting this week. Tens of thousands have fled in Afar along the corridor to Djibouti.

Both the government and the TPLF accuse the other of starting the latest round. The United Nations has warned that drone strikes and road closures are disrupting aid. The African Union urged Ethiopia, Eritrea and Egypt — Addis Ababa also expelled an Egyptian diplomat, prompting a reciprocal order from Cairo — to show restraint and use diplomacy.

For a region still recovering from one of Africa’s deadliest recent wars, the loss of embassies removes a channel that once symbolised peace. Whether mediators can pull the sides back from a broader confrontation may decide if northern Ethiopia’s new violence stays contained — or draws Eritrea and others openly back onto the battlefield.