Ethiopia expels six Sudanese diplomats, orders closure of consulate

Ethiopia has ordered six Sudanese diplomats to leave the country within 48 hours and closed Sudan’s consulate in the border town of Asosa, according to media reports.

The reports on Tuesday came as tensions between the countries continue to rise, with Sudan accusing Ethiopia of ⁠supporting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighting Sudan’s army, while Ethiopia accuses Sudan of backing rebels in its northern Tigray region.

The allegations and counter-allegations, which both ⁠sides deny, have raised fears that Ethiopia’s and Sudan’s wars could bleed into each other, spawning a broader conflict in the Horn of Africa.

The Reuters news agency, citing a senior Ethiopian official, reported on Tuesday that Ethiopia ordered six staff members of the Sudanese consulate in the border town ⁠of Asosa to leave within 48 hours. It said the official asked not to be named in order to discuss a sensitive diplomatic matter.

The Associated Press news agency also reported the action, citing an Ethiopian intelligence official. It also said a Sudanese official had corroborated the expulsions, adding that Ethiopian authorities had summoned Sudan’s ambassador on Sunday to announce the consulate’s closure.

He said the staff departed on Tuesday evening and spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not want to escalate the diplomatic dispute.

The agency said neither official had provided a specific reason for the ousters.

The expulsions came after ⁠Sudan lodged a complaint against Ethiopia with both the United Nations Security Council and the African Union’s Peace and Security Council on Sunday, accusing Ethiopia of allowing the RSF to use its territory to launch deadly drone attacks against civilian infrastructure in Sudan.

“The Sudanese government remains committed to its right to defend its territory. Nevertheless, it is making ⁠every possible effort to avoid an open war with Ethiopia,” said Amjad Farid, political and foreign affairs adviser for Sudan’s Transitional Sovereign Council.

A direct military confrontation with Addis Ababa would severely strain an already exhausted Sudanese military apparatus, which is still involved in intense battles with the RSF in the southeast of the country.

Addis Ababa denies it supports the RSF in Sudan’s civil war.

The fighting between Sudan’s military and the RSF erupted in 2023 and has since killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 14 million people. The civil war has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, according to the United Nations.

On Sunday, drone strikes on electricity substations in the northern Sudanese towns of Al-Dabbah and Abu Hamad knocked out power. Sudan’s government and the rights group Emergency Lawyers blamed the RSF.

The wider campaign has disrupted electricity and water supplies and threatened essential medical services.

Ethiopia’s order on the Sudanese diplomats follows its decision to expel 10 Eritrean diplomats and close its embassy in Eritrea on October 1. Eritrea responded by severing diplomatic ties.

Ethiopia also expelled an Egyptian diplomat last month. Relations with Egypt have long been strained over Ethiopia’s massive dam on the Blue Nile, which Cairo fears could threaten its water supplies.

Ethiopia has accused Sudan, Egypt and Eritrea of supporting Tigrayan rebels who launched an offensive against government forces in September. All three countries have denied this.