Eritrea and Ethiopia shutter embassies as new Red Sea conflict looms

Eritrea and Ethiopia shutter embassies as new Red Sea conflict looms Submitted by Sean Mathews on Thu, 10/01/2026 - 19:22 In response to Ethiopia's embassy closure, Eritrea accused Addis Ababa of funding armed groups to topple government Tigray People's Liberation Front fighters walk towards a field in Mekele, the capital of the Tigray region, Ethiopia, on 30 June 2021(Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP) Off Eritrea and Ethiopia have severed all diplomatic ties after accusing one another of engaging in hostile actions, in a major flare-up that could foreshadow another war on the volatile Red Sea. Ethiopia on Thursday announced it was expelling 10 Eritrean diplomats and closing its embassy in Eritrea’s capital of Asmara, after reports of explosions in Addis Ababa. The strike punctured Addis Ababa’s relative calm despite Ethiopia’s federal government battling an alliance of rebel movements opposed to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Ethiopia’s regions of Tigray, Amhara and Afar.

Western and regional officials in Addis Ababa confirmed to Middle East Eye the sound of explosions in the capital due to a drone strike. AFP reported that the explosion rocked the Ethiopian National Defence Force headquarters in the Tor Hayloch area of Addis Ababa. In a statement, Ethiopia accused Eritrea of engaging in “direct and indirect acts of hostility and belligerence” against it.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Eritrea said in response it was severing all diplomatic relations with Ethiopia, accusing it of pursuing “an agenda of incessant hostility” against it. “In parallel with these aggressive intentions, Ethiopia has gone further to host, train, and provide arms to an assortment of what it calls ‘Eritrean armed opposition groups’ to stoke internal conflict for ‘regime change’ in Eritrea,” Eritrea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. Deterioration of ties, risks Eritrea and Ethiopia have been at odds for months, with regional diplomats warning that ties were deteriorating fast.

The two briefly formed an alliance to fight the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the ruling party in Ethiopia's Tigray region, during Ethiopia’s 2020-2022 civil war. Since then, they have returned to being bitter foes. Addis Ababa has made claims against Eritrea’s Red Sea coastline and accuses Eritrea of supporting rebel groups like the TPLF, which Asmara denies.