AU Horn of Africa Crisis 2026: AU Response

The African Union has asked Ethiopia, Eritrea and Egypt to step back before a bad situation grows into a regional one. Ethiopia Eritrea Egypt tensions escalated sharply this week, and the AU Commission said late Thursday that all three should avoid actions or statements that could make matters worse. It wants differences settled through established diplomatic channels and peaceful dialogue.

The Commission also said that, after consulting the countries concerned, it is ready to help with de-escalation and a peaceful settlement, in line with the principles of the AU’s Constitutive Act.

Embassies Shut and Diplomats Sent Home

The statement followed a run of tit-for-tat moves. On Thursday, Ethiopia ordered its embassy in Eritrea closed and declared 10 Eritrean diplomats persona non grata. Asmara answered by cutting all ties, so Ethiopia Eritrea diplomatic ties severed is now the reality between two neighbours that reopened embassies in 2018. That rapprochement helped earn Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed the Nobel Peace Prize.

Egypt was pulled in on the same day. Ethiopia expelled an Egyptian diplomat and gave him 48 hours to leave. Cairo responded in kind, ordering an Ethiopian embassy counsellor out on the same deadline. The moves came hours after explosions were heard in Addis Ababa, which sharpened fears that the fighting could spread across the region.

Fighting at Home Feeds the Row

Addis Ababa accuses Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt of backing an opposition alliance led by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, which has been fighting federal troops for about a week. All three deny it. A source linked to the alliance told Reuters it carried out several drone strikes in the capital, some aimed at military headquarters. Details of that claim remain unverified. The clashes are the worst in Ethiopia since the 2020-2022 civil war, in which Eritrea fought alongside the federal government.

Old Wounds and a Warning Already Issued

The AU had already sounded an alarm on September 23. Commission chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf called on neighbouring states not to inflame the situation and urged both sides back to the Pretoria Agreement signed in November 2022 to end the Tigray war. His statement pointed to the seizure of airports in Mekelle, Axum and Shire, the halt to civilian flights, and flare-ups in South Tigray and Afar. It also raised concern about new political and military alliances in the region. Two days later, he met Egypt’s foreign minister.

Eritrea was not a party to the Pretoria deal, and relations with Addis Ababa soured soon afterwards. Ethiopia’s insistence that it needs Red Sea access remains a sore point, with Asmara saying it fears an attempt to seize the port of Assab by force. With diplomats gone and fighting ongoing, the AU’s offer to help may be one of the few channels left.