Powerful explosions were heard overnight in Addis Ababa, including near Ethiopia’s military headquarters, as rebels launched drone strikes against key federal facilities in and around the capital.
Hours later, Ethiopia’s dispute with Eritrea moved into the open. On Thursday, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government said it would close its embassy in Asmara and ordered 10 Eritrean diplomats to leave Ethiopia within 48 hours. It accused the diplomats of activities that threatened national security.
Eritrea cut all diplomatic relations with Ethiopia on Thursday evening.
The rupture reverses a relationship rebuilt by Abiy in 2018, after two decades of hostility. Abiy, who took office that year, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 and is set to be sworn in for another term after winning June’s elections. His counterpart, President Isaias Afwerki, leads Eritrea, which broke away from Ethiopia and gained independence in 1993.
The two governments later fought on the same side against Tigrayan forces during the 2020-2022 civil war. An African Union mediator estimated that about 600,000 people died during the two-year Tigray conflict, which ended with a peace agreement in 2022.
The peace has given way to renewed fighting. Last month, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, joined six other armed movements in an alliance whose stated aim is to remove Abiy’s government from power.
Intense clashes between Ethiopian federal forces and the TPLF began again last week in northern Ethiopia. The TPLF has pushed fighters into the neighbouring Afar and Amhara states, though federal forces have almost completely reversed Afar and Tigrayan rebel gains in the Afar region.
More than 50 people have been killed since the heavy fighting resumed. A doctor in Alamata told the BBC earlier this week that at least 52 civilians had been killed during three days of intense fighting. The BBC said it was unable to report from Tigray because internet and phone lines had been cut.
Ethiopian officials have accused Eritrea of backing the TPLF in the latest violence. Addis Ababa has also accused Sudan and Egypt of supporting the opposition alliance led by the TPLF. Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt deny supporting the rebels.
The African Union has urged restraint in the Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict.
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