Addis Ababa and Asmara cut diplomatic ties as fighting continues in northern Ethiopia

Ethiopia accuses Eritrea of supporting the Tigray People's Liberation Front rebels.

Addis Ababa announced it would expel ten Eritrean diplomats "posing a direct threat to Ethiopian national security" and close its embassy in Asmara.

The Eritrean Foreign Ministry responded that it "had no choice but to reciprocate and sever all diplomatic ties with Ethiopia"

Hundreds have been killed and injured since the resumption of violent fighting in northern Ethiopia last week. The Tigray People's Liberation Front, which controls the Tigray region, has launched attacks in the neighboring regions of Afar and Amhara, with the support of local militias.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who has yet to comment on the crisis, is set to be sworn in for a new term on Monday after winning the June elections. However, he faces a conflict on multiple fronts, as several armed groups have formed an alliance against him.

- Explosion -

Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993, and the two countries fought a border war between 1998 and 2000. However, relations improved when Ahmed came to power in 2018, and they even fought together against Tigray forces during the recent civil war.

But relations deteriorated sharply afterward, as Eritrea expressed concerns that landlocked Ethiopia intended to invade and seize a port on the Red Sea.

The Eritrean Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that Ethiopia has "adopted a continuous hostile approach... against Eritrea for the past three years, seeking to achieve the +necessity of having a sovereign access to the sea+ by invading Eritrean sovereign ports and coastal areas"

On Thursday, the Ethiopian News Agency reported that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared Egyptian diplomat Ahmed Moharam Ahmed persona non grata and informed his embassy in Addis Ababa that he must leave Ethiopian territory within 48 hours.

The agency did not provide a reason for the expulsion of the Egyptian diplomat.

Relations between Ethiopia and Egypt are strained over the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Nile River.

Meanwhile, an explosion late at night at the Ethiopian National Defense Force headquarters in the capital, Addis Ababa, raised fears that the conflict between the army and rebel groups had spread to the capital for the first time.

Diplomatic and security sources confirmed the explosion but could not determine its cause or the responsible party, nor did they provide any figures on casualties.

A worker at a nearby bar told Agence France-Presse, relaying information received from colleagues who were on site at the time of the incident, that "the explosion occurred at the headquarters and was powerful, shaking the surrounding area and causing severe panic among nearby residents"

Neither the Prime Minister's Office nor the military spokesperson responded to a request for comment from Agence France-Presse.

- Continued clashes -

The National Intelligence and Security Agency issued a decision on Wednesday to ban the flight of all drones in the vicinity of the capital.

The ACLED conflict monitoring organization reported that drones suspected of being linked to the anti-government coalition targeted military and civilian airports in the Oromia and Amhara regions on Sunday.

On the battlefields in northern Ethiopia, signs emerged on Thursday that Tigray rebel forces were retreating under military pressure.

A humanitarian source told Agence France-Presse that Tigray People's Liberation Front fighters were forced to withdraw from the town of Ayebti in the Afar region after capturing it earlier in the week, and are currently engaged in battles near the mountainous border between the Afar and Tigray regions.

A pro-government militia announced on the X platform that it had regained control of Ayebti as well as the town of Maychew in southern Tigray.

Local residents had previously told Agence France-Presse that the town of Maychew had come under heavy bombardment.

Verifying information is extremely difficult due to media being barred from accessing the conflict zones, as well as significant disruptions in communication networks.

Médecins Sans Frontières reported that it had recorded more than 420 injuries in the Tigray region as of September 25, as well as over 300 injuries in the city of Shire in western Tigray.

The humanitarian source estimated that tens of thousands of people had fled their homes in the Afar region.