Sudanupdated 32m ago3 min read
Sudan and Ethiopia Exchange Diplomat Expulsions, Close Consulates Amid Drone Claims
13outlets comparedA wider view of the story
12 West Asian1 Western AlternativeThis article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Sudan and Ethiopia expelled diplomats and closed each other's border consulates in tit-for-tat actions. The moves follow mutual accusations of backing armed groups and alleged drone attacks.
Save coverage image
Diplomats expelled
Sudan and Ethiopia exchanged expulsions of diplomats and closed consulates as their mutual accusations intensified, with Ethiopian authorities ordering six Sudanese diplomats to leave within 48 hours after declaring the Sudanese consular staff in Assosa unwanted persons.
Sudan responded by closing Ethiopia’s consulate in Gedaref and expelling its diplomats, and AFP reported that Sudan’s army-aligned government said it had identified dozens of RSF attacks from Ethiopian territory.
The Transitional Sovereignty Council in Sudan issued a report it said documented 70 attacks from inside Ethiopian territory this year by the RSF, and it said it filed complaints against Ethiopia at the U.N. Security Council and the African Union.
The crisis also unfolded alongside claims about drones, with the report stating that 187 one-way attack drones were launched from Ethiopian territory, killing and injuring nearly 500 civilians.
In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia denied the accusations and accused the Sudanese army of backing rebels linked to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, an allegation Khartoum rejected.
Drone claims and denials
Sudan’s government said it had submitted a complaint to the United Nations Security Council and the African Union’s Peace and Security Council, accusing Ethiopia of permitting the paramilitary group to launch suicide drone attacks against civilian infrastructure from Ethiopian territory. The Ethiopian prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the latest diplomatic developments, while Addis Ababa rejected the allegations and accused the Sudanese army of backing rebels aligned with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. Sudan’s Foreign Ministry said, in a statement last Sunday, that the government filed a complaint against Ethiopia over an attack from inside Ethiopian territory on civilian sites and electrical stations in several states of Sudan, causing civilian casualties and disrupting essential services for citizens.
The Sudanese Foreign Ministry deemed that the use of the Rapid Support Forces’ troops on Ethiopian territory to attack Sudan constitutes an “act of aggression,” and it said the use violated Article 4(2) of the United Nations Charter. Residents of Ad-Damazin, the capital of Blue Nile State, reported hearing explosions and air strikes from drones late Tuesday and into Wednesday.
Regional risk
Amjad Farid, political and foreign affairs adviser to Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council, said the government remained committed to defending its territory but was making every possible effort to avoid an open war with Ethiopia. The diplomatic escalation raised concerns that Sudan’s civil war and renewed instability in Ethiopia’s Tigray region could become increasingly interconnected, potentially drawing more countries into a wider confrontation in the Horn of Africa. UN figures cited in the sources said the conflict has displaced more than 14 million people since it began in April 2023, and the sources described it as one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises.
The Shams account said UN and aid actors estimate that the Sudanese conflict has caused more than 200,000 deaths and left the world’s worst hunger and displacement crisis. The sources also tied the dispute to earlier tensions, with Al-Sharq saying the discord traces back to the Fashqa dispute and the tensions over the Renaissance Dam.