Getachew Reda, right, meeting the United Nations special envoy for the Horn of Africa, in a photograph he shared on X on November 11, 2026. Photo: Getachew Reda (@reda_getachew) on X.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s adviser Getachew Reda said Wednesday he told the UN envoy for the Horn of Africa that Eritrea’s president and Sudan’s army chief back armed groups inside Ethiopia.
Getachew, a former president of Tigray’s interim administration who now serves as an adviser minister to the Prime Minister, wrote on X that he met Guang Cong, the UN Secretary General’s special envoy for the Horn of Africa. He said the talks covered the conflicts in Sudan and Somalia, what he called the destructive role of the government in Asmara, and the prospects for easing tension in the region.
In his post, Getachew said he gave the envoy a detailed account of what he said President Isaias Afwerki and General Abdel Fattah al Burhan have done to equip, arm and coordinate subversive elements inside Ethiopia, including repeated drone attacks. He said both men must stop supporting those elements if meaningful dialogue is to take place, and that he and the envoy agreed that talking, not shooting, is the best game in town. His post did not name the groups, locate the drone attacks, or offer evidence, and it did not say how the envoy replied.
Mereja Media treats these statements as claims of the Ethiopian government. Addis Standard noted that the accusations have not been independently verified and that no response from Asmara or Khartoum accompanied the report. Mereja Media found none by Wednesday evening.
The charges echo earlier ones. Ethiopia told the UN Security Council on October 10 that it was acting in self defense against Eritrea, which it accused of sending troops across the border and backing insurgents, but the letter, which the Associated Press obtained, gave no evidence. Eritrea rejected that and accused Ethiopia of trying to gain Red Sea access by force.
Sudan’s army led government has made the opposite accusation. It has complained to the UN Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council that Ethiopia lets the Rapid Support Forces use its territory for drone attacks, a charge Addis Ababa rejects, and Addis Standard reported that the two sides have expelled diplomats and closed consular offices. Mereja Media reported on Sudan taking its case against Ethiopia to the UN and the African Union.
In a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday, five U.S. senators wrote that Ethiopia is reportedly supporting the Rapid Support Forces and that the Sudanese army is accused of supporting the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). Those lines describe what the senators called reports and are not findings.
Sources
- Getachew Reda on X
- Addis Standard, Ethiopia tells UN envoy Eritrea, Sudan backing armed groups and drone attacks
- BBC News Amharic, Getachew Reda accuses Eritrea and Sudan over drone attacks
- Associated Press, Ethiopia accuses Eritrea of troop incursion in UN self defense letter
- Senate Foreign Relations Committee, senators’ letter to Secretary Rubio