Twelve days later, Tigrayan forces seized three airports and war returned to northern Ethiopia. On September 28, Ethiopia’s army chief publicly accused Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt of backing the rebels, all three of them partners of Saudi Arabia. A single month brought an Iranian proxy to one shore of the Red Sea and a war with Arab backers on the other. The Horn of Africa is no longer a region that Middle Eastern rivalries spill into. It has become a place where they are fought.
Six outside powers, four internal warsThe cast is crowded. Saudi Arabia and the UAE, once partners in Yemen, now back opposite sides: Riyadh supports Sudan’s army, Eritrea and Somalia’s federal government, while Abu Dhabi has ties to Ethiopia, Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces and the breakaway regions of Somaliland and Puntland. Egypt, locked in a dispute with Ethiopia over its Nile dam, has aligned with Eritrea and Somalia and is sending troops into the AU mission in Somalia. Turkey runs Mogadishu’s port and airport and deployed F-16s there in January. Israel recognised Somaliland in December 2025. China keeps its only overseas military base in Djibouti. Russia has spent nine years chasing a naval base in Port Sudan.
