April 1, 2021 last updated 8:48 ET The banks of the Tekeze River, at the Sudan-Ethiopia border, Dec. 15, 2020 (AP photo by Nariman El-Mofty).
Ethiopia-Sudan Border Skirmishes Spark Fears of a Wider War
In mid-February, Sudan summoned home its ambassador to Ethiopia amid an escalating dispute over a stretch of agricultural land along the two countries’ border. Both sides have accused each other of seizing territory by force, and Sudanese authorities have reported at least a dozen deaths, including some soldiers, due to incursions by Ethiopian militias. There is now an uncomfortably high possibility of an open military conflict between the two neighbors, both of which have grappled with domestic unrest in recent months and are going through their own delicate political transitions. Such a border war would be a serious threat to regional security.
The East African
Wednesday January 20 2021
A sign at Moyale showing the distance to the Ethiopian border. Ethiopia and Sudan are involved in a border dispute near Amhara State. PHOTO | FILE | NMG
Summary
The dispute is in a region in eastern Sudan near Ethiopia’s Amhara State known as Al-Fashqa.
Traditionally, within Sudan’s international border, the area has been occupied by farmers from Ethiopia’s Amhara region. The farmers and Sudan’s livestock keepers have clashed in the past.
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Sudan and Ethiopia have failed to resolve a simmering border conflict in what may be a prolonged dispute where their common boundary should pass.
The East African
Friday January 15 2021
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South Sudan s President Salva Kiir has expressed readiness to mediate between Sudan and Ethiopia to end their border conflict, said Sudan s Sovereign Council on Thursday.
Chairman of Sudan s Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan on Thursday met with Tut Gatluak, South Sudan s presidential adviser on security affairs, who conveyed a verbal message from Kiir, the council said in a statement. President Salva Kiir has expressed readiness to mediate between Sudan and Ethiopia to reach a political and diplomatic solution according to the recognised international borders in preservation of the fraternal ties between the two countries and the peace in the region, Gatluak was quoted by the statement as saying.