Ethiopia expelled six Sudanese diplomats on Wednesday, Reuters reported, citing an unnamed official, as Addis Ababa and Khartoum continued to exchange accusations of supporting each other’s enemies.
Ethiopia accuses Sudan of supporting the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), while Sudan accuses Ethiopia of harbouring the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The allegations and counter-allegations, which both sides deny, have raised fears that the two conflicts could spill over into each other, potentially triggering a broader conflict in the Horn of Africa.
On Sunday, Sudan’s government said it had lodged a complaint against Ethiopia with the United Nations Security Council and the African Union’s Peace and Security Council, accusing Ethiopia of allowing the RSF to use its territory to launch suicide drone attacks against civilian infrastructure in Sudan.
The spokesperson for the Ethiopian prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Ethiopia ordered six staff members of the Sudanese consulate in the border town of Assosa to leave within 48 hours, the senior Ethiopian official said, without providing a reason for the decision.
The official asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the diplomatic matter.
Addis Ababa denies supporting the RSF in Sudan’s civil war. The conflict has displaced more than 14 million people, according to UN figures, and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises since it erupted in April 2023.
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 the allegations.
