Ethiopia has ordered ten Eritrean diplomats to leave the country and closed its embassy in Asmara, sharply escalating tensions between the two neighbours as fighting continued in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region.

Ethiopia’s foreign ministry gave the diplomats 48 hours to leave Addis Ababa, saying they had been involved in activity posing a direct threat to national security, according to the Associated Press. The move followed an Ethiopian accusation that Eritrea was financing rebels who had taken control of several towns in renewed fighting against federal forces in Tigray.

Eritrea rejected the accusation. Its foreign ministry described Ethiopia’s decision as astonishing and said Asmara would reciprocate by severing diplomatic ties, with what it called the negative consequences that would follow. The two governments’ claims are competing official positions; neither should be treated as independently established by the diplomatic announcements alone.

The escalation came after three blasts were heard in different parts of Addis Ababa overnight. An intelligence official confirmed the blasts to AP but gave no further details. A diplomatic source and residents reported explosions near the defence headquarters and a nearby factory area, but it remained unclear whether they were attacks or military training exercises.

The combination of renewed fighting, diplomatic expulsion and unexplained explosions has raised the risk of a wider regional crisis in the Horn of Africa. The immediate confirmed steps are diplomatic: Ethiopia has expelled the diplomats and shut its embassy, while Eritrea has announced its intention to sever ties.

The next indicators will be whether either government supplies evidence for its security accusations, whether fighting in Tigray expands, and whether third parties seek to restore official channels. Until then, the safest account is a narrow one: relations have deteriorated sharply, while key claims about responsibility for the violence and blasts remain unresolved.