Ethiopia accused Sudanese forces of killing “many civilians” in recent fighting over disputed land on the nation’s border.
Tensions between the two countries have escalated since the conflict broke out in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region on Nov. 4, with several deadly clashes on fertile farmland in the al-Fashqa area stretching across the border. The dispute threatens to bring a third nation into a regional conflict that already involved troops from neighboring Eritrea.
Ethiopian authorities have observed Sudanese forces carrying out organized attacks with heavy machine guns and armored convoys at their border, Dina Mufti, spokesman for Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry, told reporters on Tuesday. Ethiopian farmers in the region have had their property looted, while “many civilians have been killed and injured,” he said.
Sudan’s Foreign Minister Omar Qamar al-Din did not respond to requests for comment and calls to the North African Nation’s Information Ministry and the Sudanese Army went unanswered.
Al-Din said last week that the Sudanese military is in control of most of the disputed land in the al-Fashqa area. He downplayed the prospect of the conflict escalating, saying the government will use diplomatic channels to resolve the dispute.
Both sides met last month to discuss the border issue but made no progress.
Amhara Militia
Foreign diplomats and Sudanese officials who have been following the talks said that while Sudanese forces moved into the al-Fashqa area after Ethiopian federal forces left to assist in the Tigray conflict, large groups of Ethiopian ethnic Amhara militias have settled in the area. have mobilized.
Amhara state, whose fighters supported the Ethiopian Federal Army’s incursion into Tigray, claims ownership of parts of al-Fashqa, including areas in Sudanese territory.
Amhara militias “claim renewed aggressiveness at the border that could result in further provocations,” said Cameron Hudson, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center. “If left unchecked, it represents the kind of ‘low likelihood, high impact’ scenario that can have devastating and far-reaching consequences.”
Sudan says the border area around al-Fashqa was demarcated by colonial-era treaties dating back to 1902, placing the country firmly within its international borders. Khartoum has in the past allowed Amhara farmers to do business and live on the fertile land as long as they pay taxes and operate under Sudanese laws, and in turn, Ethiopia has recognized the country as Sudanese.
Foreign fighters
The Sudanese border has already been destabilized by the fighting in Tigray. The UN said on Tuesday that dozens of refugees continue to arrive in Sudan due to continued violence in the area.
“In the first few days of the new year, some 800 people crossed from the Tigray region of Ethiopia to Eastern Sudan,” said Andrej Mahecic, a spokesman for the UN refugee agency in Geneva. “The latest newcomers say they have been caught in the conflict and have been victims of various armed groups.”
Despite previous denials, Ethiopian officials have begun to admit the presence of Eritrean troops in Tigray. Speaking to Tigray’s regional broadcaster, now effectively controlled by the government of Abiy, Ethiopian Army’s Major General Belay Seyoum said last week that Eritrean forces had invaded Ethiopia “uninvited” while federal forces were being attacked by troops of Iraq. Tigray.
“We to feel sad that this had to happen, ”he said. “We can solve our internal problems ourselves. We can do that. ”
– With the help of Samuel Gebre
(Updates with comments from UN, Ethiopian officials from the second paragraph after the Foreign Fighters subhead)