A small collection of bats collected in Dire Dawa area, eastern Ethiopia, in November 2017, is presented. The recorded species belong to six species and four families, they represent three various faunas concerning their biogeographic affinities (Afro-tropical, Saharo-Sindian, and Palaearctic/Afro-tropical). Besides three species previously known in the region, Rousettus aegyptiacus, Epomophorus minimus and Charephon pumilus, three bats were newly documented from the area, Rhinopoma microphyllum, R. cystops and Scotophilus leucogaster. R. microphyllum is here reported from Ethiopia for the first time. Molecular genetic comparison indicated Ethiopian R. cystops to belong to the Arabian lineage, representing a separate subspecies, R. c. arabium, until now unknown from the African continent. The easternmost extent of the Ahmar Mountains, including the Dire Dawa area, is a region of mixing of the faunas of the Afro-tropical savannah bats with the Saharo-Sindian dry scrubland bats. Rather surprisingly, the Saharo-Sindian fauna of the area shows certain affinity also to the Arabian region.