# Ethiopia Accuses Sudan and Eritrea of Backing Tigray Forces as Sudan Rejects Outside Solutions at the UN

Khartoum denies the Ethiopian allegation, and its foreign minister addressed the General Assembly after Washington refused a visa to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

- Published: 2026-09-29T05:07:13.622Z
- Canonical: https://polylog.news/2026-09-29/ethiopia-accuses-sudan-and-eritrea-of-backing-tigray-forces
- Publisher: Polylog (Global desk)
- Section: world
- Sources: [AllAfrica / RFI](https://allafrica.com/stories/202609290002.html), [AllAfrica / UN News](https://allafrica.com/stories/202609290007.html)

The Ethiopian government has accused Sudan and Eritrea of supporting armed groups fighting federal forces in northern Ethiopia, claims Khartoum rejects, [RFI reported](https://allafrica.com/stories/202609290002.html), as renewed clashes raised fears of a return to full-scale war in Tigray. The accusation draws two neighboring states into a conflict that officially ended with a 2022 agreement between the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan authorities, an agreement both sides now describe as under strain.

At the United Nations, Sudan's foreign minister told the General Assembly that no solution to his country's war can be imposed from outside, [UN News reported](https://allafrica.com/stories/202609290007.html). He spoke in place of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the de facto head of state, whose visa application Washington rejected.

Taken together, the two statements describe a Horn of Africa in which three states accuse one another of proxy involvement while the principal external mediator has limited access to one of the parties. The region borders the southern approach to the Red Sea, the route that carries a large share of Europe-Asia container traffic and Gulf energy exports.

## What this means

The exposure falls on shipping and on the Gulf states that have invested in Red Sea ports and in Ethiopian and Sudanese agriculture. A widening confrontation among Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan would add pressure on the Bab al-Mandab strait at the same time the Strait of Hormuz remains disrupted, forcing carriers to route around two chokepoints instead of one and raising freight rates on Europe-Asia trade. The precedent is the 2020-2022 Tigray war, during which Ethiopia's access to external financing narrowed sharply and its currency and debt restructuring talks stalled. The likelier outcome over the coming months is escalating accusations and localized fighting rather than a declared war between states, because none of the three governments can finance a sustained military campaign, and because Gulf backers hold investments on multiple sides of the dispute. Direct cross-border military operations by Eritrean or Sudanese forces would change that assessment.

## What to watch

- Whether the 2022 Ethiopia-Tigray agreement formally collapses, which would reopen questions about Ethiopia's access to external financing.
- Traffic volumes through Bab al-Mandab, which show whether carriers are pricing a second chokepoint risk on top of Hormuz.
- Whether Washington issues a travel authorization for Sudan's de facto leadership, an indicator of whether the United States intends to mediate the conflict or isolate the government.