Eritrea Severs Diplomatic Ties With Ethiopia as Northern Fighting Escalates

Eritrea has announced that it is severing diplomatic relations with Ethiopia, deepening a crisis that has intensified alongside fighting in northern Ethiopia and rising tensions across the region.

Eritrea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday that the government had “no option but to reciprocate in kind and sever all diplomatic ties with Ethiopia”. The announcement followed Ethiopia’s decision to close its embassy in Asmara and expel 10 Eritrean diplomats.

The diplomatic rupture came as Ethiopian federal troops fought a Tigrayan-led opposition alliance in the northern regions of Tigray, Amhara and Afar. Ethiopia has accused Eritrea of supporting the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and other forces opposed to the government. Eritrea has rejected that accusation.

Fighting reported across three regions

Mohammed Taha Tawakel, Al Jazeera’s bureau chief in Ethiopia, said forces loyal to the federal government had made significant gains in Tigray, taken control of several towns and moved closer to Mekelle.

A pro-government armed group also claimed that it had recaptured Erebti in Afar, saying the Ethiopian military provided air support. The group said it would continue pursuing further advances. Reports of battlefield gains and territorial changes have not been independently confirmed.

An explosion was also reported early on Thursday at Ethiopia’s Ministry of Defence in Addis Ababa. An unnamed diplomatic source cited by AFP assessed that small drones were the most probable cause, but the cause has not been independently established. No confirmed casualty figures were provided.

Regional accusations grow

The diplomatic dispute has unfolded alongside worsening relations involving Egypt and Sudan. Egyptian state-linked media reported that Cairo ordered an Ethiopian diplomat to leave the country after Addis Ababa had expelled an Egyptian diplomat.

The Ethiopian government has accused Egypt and Sudan of joining Eritrea in supporting Tigrayan rebel forces. Sudan’s military-backed government has separately accused Ethiopia of supporting rebel forces involved in Sudan’s civil conflict. Ethiopia rejects that allegation, and the claims concerning external support have not been independently verified.

Ahmed Soliman of Chatham House said the conflicts in Ethiopia and Sudan had become increasingly connected because the Ethiopian government and the Sudanese Armed Forces accuse each other of harbouring and equipping opposition forces from within their borders. He also pointed to Egypt’s longstanding dispute with Ethiopia over the Nile and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

Warnings of wider escalation

Analysts said Eritrea could become more directly involved if the fighting continues. Laura Hammond of SOAS University of London said there was a strong possibility that Eritrea would take a greater role in fighting inside Tigray. She also warned that the conflict could worsen relations with and within Sudan.

Hammond said the risks of the conflict spreading were already visible in allegations of Eritrean support for the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival. The extent of Eritrea’s direct involvement in the fighting remains uncertain.

Martin Plaut described the regional danger as serious, saying the situation was extremely tense and that a spark could trigger a wider conflict involving Ethiopia, Eritrea and neighbouring Sudan.

Ethiopia and Eritrea have a long history of conflict. Ethiopia annexed Eritrea in 1962, while Eritrea secured independence in 1993 after an armed struggle led by Isaias Afwerki. The two countries fought a border war from 1998 to 2000. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed later moved to restore relations with Eritrea after taking office in 2018.

Eritrea supported Ethiopia’s government during Ethiopia’s 2020–2022 civil war. Recent tensions have also been linked by analysts to Ethiopia’s pursuit of direct access to the Red Sea.