Ethiopia expels six Sudanese diplomats amid accusations of RSF support

Ethiopia has ordered six Sudanese diplomats to leave the country, a senior Ethiopian official said on Wednesday, in a move reflecting further deterioration in relations between the two countries as each accuses the other of supporting its enemies.

Sudan accuses Ethiopia of supporting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), while Addis Ababa accuses Khartoum of backing rebels in the northern Ethiopian region of Tigray.

The mutual accusations, which both sides deny, have raised fears that the wars in the two countries could become increasingly intertwined, potentially widening the conflict across the Horn of Africa.

The Sudanese government said on Sunday that it had filed a complaint against Ethiopia with the United Nations Security Council and the African Union’s Peace and Security Council, accusing it of allowing the RSF to use its territory to launch explosive-laden drones targeting civilian infrastructure in Sudan.

The spokesperson for the Ethiopian prime minister’s office did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The senior Ethiopian official said Ethiopia had ordered six employees of the Sudanese consulate in the border town of Asosa to leave the country within 48 hours, without giving a reason for the decision.

The official requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Ethiopia denies helping the RSF in Sudan.

The United Nations says Sudan’s civil war has displaced more than 14 million people and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises since it broke out in April 2023.