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 sources, a senior Ethiopian official confirmed the move on Tuesday, while a Sudanese official said the consulate staff left on Tuesday evening and that Ethiopia had summoned Sudan's ambassador on Sunday to announce the closure. Neither official gave a specific reason.
The expulsions came after Sudan lodged complaints on Sunday with the UN Security Council and the African Union's Peace and Security Council, accusing Ethiopia of allowing the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to use its territory to launch drone attacks on civilian infrastructure in Sudan. Ethiopia, for its part, accuses Khartoum of backing rebels in its northern Tigray region. Both sides deny the allegations.
"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 to Sudan's Transitional Sovereign Council.
The dispute has raised fears that the two countries' wars could spill into each other and ignite a wider conflict in the Horn of Africa. Sudan's war between the army and the RSF, which erupted in 2023, has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 14 million. Ethiopia expelled 10 Eritrean diplomats on October 1 and an Egyptian diplomat last month.