KHARTOUM, Dec 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Saturday sees tensions rise between Sudan and neighbour Ethiopia as Khartoum deployed significant military reinforcements along its eastern border days after an ambush attributed to Ethiopian forces.
Incidents regularly occur on this agricultural border between Ethiopian farmers who come to cultivate on this territory claimed by Sudan.
An area now amid a humanitarian crisis with the arrival of 50,000 refugees who have fled Tigray conflict — as per the United Nations.
Internal conflict in Ethiopia has driven more than 50,000 refugees into Sudan in just over a month, triggering a complex aid operation in an impoverished region of Sudan.
And fears of unrest in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region spilling into Sudan were fuelled when several Sudanese soldiers were killed on Tuesday, in what Khartoum called an “ambush” by Ethiopian forces and militias inside its borders.
Ethiopian officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the incident.
Sudan has boosted its military presence near its eastern frontier since the conflict between Ethiopian federal forces and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) started on Nov. 4.
“The tensions increased and some skirmishes took place recently,”
Sudan’s information minister Faisal Salih said.
Amhara farmers claim rights to lands in the al-Fashqa plain also claimed by Sudan, and clashes sometimes flare during planting and harvest seasons.
Tigrayan refugees now hosted in eastern Sudan hold Amhara forces responsible for much of the violence they fled since early November.
Prompted by security concerns, Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok flew to Ethiopia on last Sunday for talks with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed with what senior Sudanese officials said was a proposal to mediate.
Ethiopia, which declared victory over the TPLF on Nov. 29, said the offer was unnecessary. The TPLF has said it was continuing to fight.
Hamdok and Abiy agreed to revive a commission to settle their border dispute, which dates back to colonial times, and made progress over stalled three-way talks with Egypt on a giant hydropower dam Ethiopia has built on the Blue Nile, said Salih.
A diplomatic source in Sudan said Ethiopia’s ambassador had been summoned over the troop deaths on Tuesday, but Abiy struck a conciliatory tone, tweeting: “Such incidents will not break the bond (between) our two countries as we always use dialogue to resolve issues.” — NNN-AGENCIES
