Ethiopia recalled its diplomats from Asmara, ordered Eritrean diplomats out and closure of diplomatic mission in Addis.
Ethiopian state-run EBC and national TV ETV observed posting video messages linking fighting in northern Ethiopia directly to Eritrea and Egypt in English and vernacular languages.
Ethiopian messaging frame Cairo as malign regional actor, working with Eritrea to destabilise Ethiopia.
Meanwhile, the AU (based in Addis Ababa) has put out a statement appealing for restraint, urging three states to maintain channels of communication, consider dialogue.
The deterioration, sabre rattling comes against backdrop of intense fighting in northern Ethiopian regional states of Tigray, Afar and Amhara.
Officials in Afar claim Eritrean troops now directly engaged in combat against ENDF and regional state forces.
Addis also signalling it will pull out its troops from Somalia for redeployment to the north. This likely explains Somali President Hassan Sheikh’s one-day trip to Addis to directly appeal to PM Abiy to reconsider, dissuade him from withdrawing forces.
Without urgent and concerted international diplomacy to de-escalate the rapidly worsening tensions in the Greater Horn, the region could slide quickly into an even deadlier broader inter-state wars.
Rashid Abdi
