Eritrea Severs Diplomatic Ties With Ethiopia After Embassy Closure

What changed

Ethiopia has closed its embassy in Asmara and ordered 10 Eritrean diplomats to leave within 48 hours. Eritrea said it would reciprocate by severing all diplomatic ties with Ethiopia.

The rupture follows renewed fighting in Tigray, Amhara and Afar, after Ethiopia accused Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt of backing a Tigray People’s Liberation Front-led opposition alliance. All three deny the accusation.

Why it matters

This turns a military partnership into an open diplomatic break. Ethiopia and Eritrea fought side by side during Ethiopia’s 2020–2022 civil war, but their relationship had already deteriorated after Eritrea stayed outside the 2022 peace deal.

The timing raises the stakes. Explosions were heard in Addis Ababa, and an opposition-linked source claimed drone strikes had targeted the military headquarters. Those claims were not independently verified, but if attacks have reached the capital, the conflict is no longer confined to the northern front.

Egypt has also entered the diplomatic exchange. Ethiopia expelled an Egyptian diplomat, while Cairo declared an Ethiopian embassy counsellor persona non grata. That widens the dispute beyond the two former allies, as arguments over the fighting now overlap with Ethiopia’s demand for Red Sea access and Eritrea’s fear that Addis Ababa could try to seize its Assab port.

For now, the central uncertainty is whether the diplomatic expulsions remain a pressure tactic or become part of a broader regional escalation.