ETHIOPIA AND ERITREA SEVER DIPLOMATIC TIES OVER CONFLICT ACCUSATIONS

Ethiopia and Eritrea have severed diplomatic relations, with each accusing the other of fuelling internal conflict. Ethiopia said it was closing its embassy in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, and had ordered ten Eritrean diplomats to leave within 48 hours, accusing them of activities that posed a direct threat to its national security. Eritrea's foreign ministry responded by announcing it was cutting all diplomatic ties with Ethiopia, describing Addis Ababa's decision as "astounding" and warning of "negative corollaries". It said Eritrea had "no option but to reciprocate in kind". The announcements came hours after powerful explosions were heard overnight in Addis Ababa, including near Ethiopia's military headquarters.

The rupture follows a sharp deterioration in relations between the two neighbours. Ethiopia has accused Eritrea of supporting an alliance of armed groups fighting the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, an allegation Eritrea has repeatedly denied. Ethiopian federal forces are fighting the Tigray People's Liberation Front and allied fighters across parts of Tigray, Afar and Amhara. Last month, the TPLF joined six other armed movements, including the Fano militia from Amhara, to form an alliance whose stated aim is to remove Abiy Ahmed's government from power. A commander of a militia fighting alongside government forces in Tigray told the BBC that Eritrean soldiers had been involved on the front lines.

The latest fighting is the most serious since a 2022 peace agreement ended the Tigray war, during which an African Union mediator had previously estimated that around 600,000 people died. Ethiopia has not set out what further security measures it may take against Eritrea beyond the embassy closure and diplomat expulsions. Eritrea has not detailed what "negative corollaries" it believes will follow from Ethiopia's decision. Both governments' accounts of who bears responsibility for the renewed violence remain disputed, with no independent confirmation offered by either side.