Sudan reportedly orders Ethiopian consulate in Gedaref closed after Ethiopia expels six Assosa consular staff

Sudan has ordered Ethiopia to close its consulate in the eastern Sudanese city of Gedaref and given the mission's diplomatic staff 48 hours to leave the country, according to Sudanese media reports carried by Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency on Wednesday. The reports describe the order as a response to an earlier Ethiopian decision to close Sudan's consulate in Assosa and expel six Sudanese diplomats under the same 48-hour deadline. Ethiopian and Sudanese officials have since confirmed the Assosa expulsions to ABC News.

If carried out, the reciprocal closures would end each country's consular presence in the regions along their shared border. They come as each government accuses the other of backing armed groups fighting against it. A day before the order was reported, Sudan's army said it had shot down a drone that entered its airspace from Ethiopia.

What has been reported

Anadolu attributed the news to Sudanese outlets. The news website Al-Zawiya Net reported that Sudan's decision followed the closure by Ethiopian authorities of the Sudanese consulate in Assosa, the capital of Ethiopia's Benishangul-Gumuz region. It said six Sudanese diplomats there had been ordered to leave within 48 hours. The broadcaster Tayba TV also reported the Gedaref closure, citing local media and an unnamed Sudanese government source.

According to those reports, Sudan presented the step as an application of diplomatic reciprocity. The available reporting does not cite a formal statement from Sudan's foreign ministry. It does not say how many Ethiopian staff in Gedaref are affected.

Separately, Anadolu reported, citing local media and diplomatic sources, that the six people expelled from Assosa were diplomatic and consular officials. Assosa, which borders Sudan, lies about 476 kilometres west of Addis Ababa and 648 kilometres southeast of Khartoum, according to the agency.

An Ethiopian intelligence official, speaking anonymously, told ABC News that the six were given 48 hours to leave Ethiopia. ABC News describes them as consular staff, while the Sudanese reports carried by Anadolu refer to them as diplomats. A Sudanese official, who also asked not to be named, confirmed the expulsions to the outlet. He said Ethiopian authorities had summoned Sudan's ambassador on Sunday to inform him that the consulate would close, and that the staff left on Tuesday evening.

Neither official gave ABC News a reason for the decision, and Anadolu reported that Ethiopian authorities had offered no public explanation. According to ABC News, Ethiopia's foreign ministry had not announced the measure publicly, unlike expulsions it carried out last month, and Sudan's ambassador to Ethiopia declined to comment. Anadolu reported no comment from Ethiopian officials on the Gedaref decision.

Drone downed over Blue Nile

On Tuesday, the Sudanese army said its air defences had brought down what it described as a hostile strategic drone over Blue Nile state after the aircraft crossed into Sudanese airspace from Ethiopia, Anadolu reported. The army did not say who was operating the drone. Ethiopian authorities did not immediately respond, according to the agency.

Sudan has previously accused Ethiopia of allowing the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to use Ethiopian territory to launch drone strikes on civilian infrastructure inside Sudan. Anadolu reported that Sudan has raised those complaints with the UN Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council. According to the agency, Sudan's foreign ministry said it had submitted documents alleging that drones flown from Ethiopian territory hit civilian areas, power facilities and other infrastructure, causing casualties and disrupting essential services.

Sudanese presidential adviser Amjad Farid alleged that 187 explosive drones were used in 70 attacks launched from Ethiopia between Feb. 15 and Oct. 27, killing more than 400 civilians, Anadolu reported. He said Khartoum reserved the right to respond to threats to its sovereignty. The agency noted that Sudan's accusations of Ethiopian support for the RSF have not been independently verified.

ABC News reported that Sudan's foreign ministry said on Saturday that drones used against the country's electricity infrastructure had been supplied by the United Arab Emirates and launched from Ethiopia. Ethiopia and the UAE have repeatedly denied arming the RSF, the outlet reported. On Sunday, drone strikes on electricity substations in the northern towns of Al-Dabbah and Abu Hamad cut power, according to ABC News; Sudan's government and the rights group Emergency Lawyers blamed the RSF.

Ethiopia, for its part, accuses Sudan of supporting rebels in its northern Tigray region, according to Anadolu. ABC News reported that Ethiopia's foreign ministry dismissed similar Sudanese accusations as "baseless" in a statement on May 5, in which it also made that counter-accusation.

Background

Sudan's army and the RSF have been at war since April 2023. The conflict has displaced people on a vast scale and caused a deepening humanitarian crisis. Gedaref and Blue Nile states both border Ethiopia, and the frontier has become a point of friction as the war has continued.

The two countries also have a long-running dispute over Al-Fashaga, a fertile border area claimed by both, where Sudanese and Ethiopian forces have clashed in the past.

Ethiopia opened its Gedaref consulate in June 2015, Anadolu reported. Its stated aims were to deepen bilateral ties, ease cross-border cooperation and address shared security problems, including human trafficking.

The Assosa expulsions are the latest in a series of diplomatic moves by Ethiopia, according to ABC News. On Oct. 1 it expelled 10 Eritrean diplomats and closed its embassy in Eritrea, prompting Eritrea to cut diplomatic ties. Ethiopia also expelled an Egyptian diplomat last month; relations with Egypt have long been tense over Ethiopia's large dam on the Blue Nile, which Cairo fears could threaten its water supply.

What comes next

The reports do not say when the 48-hour deadline for Ethiopian staff in Gedaref began. They also do not say whether the closures affect either country's embassy in the other's capital. It is not known whether the African Union or other regional bodies will seek to mediate. At the time of the reports, Ethiopia had not publicly responded to the drone incident or the Gedaref expulsion order, and its foreign ministry had not formally announced the Assosa closure.

Sources: Anadolu Agency, Anadolu Ajansı, UA.NEWS, Operativ Məlumat Mərkəzi, ABC News – International, Anadolu Agency – Africa (Turkish state), Yahoo, Sada Elbalad English, Al Jazeera

Picture: Anadolu Agency

Picture: created for this story, not a photograph of the events.