Ethiopia removes Sudanese diplomats and shuts border consulate

Ethiopian authorities have expelled six diplomats from Sudan and shut down a Sudanese consulate near the mutual frontier, signaling a sharp escalation in regional diplomatic friction.

The decision targeted personnel at the consulate in Asosa, a town close to the border, giving the officials a 48-hour deadline to exit the territory. A Sudanese representative confirmed the departures took place late Tuesday after Ethiopia summoned Sudan's ambassador earlier in the week to declare the facility's shutdown. Neither capital publicly provided an official justification for the expulsions.

The standoff comes on the heels of formal protests submitted by Khartoum to both the United Nations Security Council and the African Union's Peace and Security Council. Sudanese authorities alleged that Addis Ababa permitted the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces to stage destructive drone strikes from Ethiopian soil against Sudanese municipal networks.

Amjad Farid, an adviser on political and foreign affairs to Sudan's Transitional Sovereign Council, noted that while his government intends to safeguard its sovereignty, it continues to work toward preventing direct armed conflict with Ethiopia. The Sudanese military remains locked in an exhausting conflict with the RSF that began in 2023, an internal war that has uprooted over 14 million people and sparked a catastrophic humanitarian emergency.

Recent drone assaults struck power substations in the northern Sudanese localities of Al-Dabbah and Abu Hamad over the weekend, cutting electrical services and compounding threats to basic water and healthcare infrastructure. The Sudanese government attributed those operations to the RSF.

Addis Ababa has repeatedly rejected claims that it provides backing to the RSF. In turn, Ethiopian leaders have accused Khartoum, as well as neighbors Egypt and Eritrea, of extending assistance to Tigrayan insurgent forces that initiated a military push two months ago. The accused nations have denied any involvement with the rebels.

The diplomatic fallout fits into a wider pattern of deteriorating ties across the Horn of Africa. Last month, Ethiopia expelled an Egyptian envoy amid long-standing disputes concerning its major hydroelectric dam project on the Blue Nile. In early October, Ethiopian officials also dismissed ten Eritrean diplomats and shut their embassy in Asmara, prompting Eritrea to completely sever bilateral diplomatic connections. Regional observers increasingly worry that these interconnected grievances could pull several border states into a broader regional clash.