Ethiopia severed diplomatic ties with Eritrea on Thursday, October 1, 2026, after expelling ten Eritrean diplomats and closing its embassy in Asmara as northern border fighting escalated.
Ethiopia Closes Embassy In Asmara And Expels Ten Diplomats
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Addis Ababa declared ten Eritrean diplomats persona non grata
and gave them a 48-hour departure window on Thursday, October 1, 2026, ordering the complete closure of their embassy in the Eritrean capital of Asmara.
Officials stated that the expelled staff members were involved in activities that pose a direct threat to Ethiopia’s national security. The sweeping diplomatic expulsions followed overnight explosions and reports of drone attacks targeting military headquarters in the Ethiopian capital.
Field Marshal Birhanu Jula, who serves as the Chief of General Staff of the Ethiopian National Defense Force, asserted in late September 2026 that Eritrea, Sudan, and Egypt were actively supporting the opposition coalition. Medical facilities have registered hundreds of casualties since fighting resumed, with Doctors Without Borders documenting over 420 wounded patients admitted to hospitals in Korem and Alamata, alongside more than 300 injured individuals arriving at Shire in western Tigray. Federal forces are clashing with fighters from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and allied factions across the Tigray, Afar, and Amhara regions.
Eritrea Responds With Total Severance Of Ties
Eritrea’s Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel told reporters that the mass expulsion of diplomatic personnel amounted to a de facto closure of the Eritrean Embassy in Addis Ababa as Asmara rejected the security accusations.
“Eritrea has no option but to reciprocate in kind and sever all diplomatic ties with Ethiopia,”
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Eritrea, via Al Jazeera
Relations between the two countries have soured steadily since the end of the 2020-2022 Tigray war, particularly over Ethiopia’s push to secure direct access to the Red Sea. Although President Isaias Afwerki led the armed struggle that achieved Eritrean independence in 1993—leaving landlocked Ethiopia without a coastline—and later restored diplomatic ties with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in 2018 after decades of hostility following the 1998–2000 border war, tensions resurfaced after Asmara remained outside the Pretoria Peace Agreement that concluded the northern civil war in November 2022. The ministry warned that the breakdown in relations would trigger severe negative corollaries across the region.
Cairo And Addis Ababa Trade Expulsions Over Regional Accusations
Ethiopia ordered an Egyptian diplomat, identified as Ahmed Moharam Ahmed Soliman, to leave the country within 48 hours as the diplomatic rupture widened on the same day. Ethiopian military leadership accused Eritrea, Sudan, and Egypt of backing an armed opposition coalition led by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nader Zaki defended the government’s response, telling reporters that reciprocity is the currency of diplomacy
after an Ethiopian embassy counselor in Egypt was declared unwanted and given 48 hours to depart.
African Union Calls For Immediate Dialogue
International bodies intervened with fighting intensifying across northern regions like Tigray and Afar, where a local doctor reported that at least 52 civilians had been killed during intense clashes.
“The Commission urges the three countries to address their differences through established diplomatic channels and peaceful dialogue,”
African Union Commission, via Reuters
The commission emphasized that immediate dialogue is the only viable path to preventing further casualties and restoring stability across the volatile northern regions.
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