Sudan and Ethiopia on the Brink of a Border War
Al-Sammani Awadalla-Khartoum:
The tension between Sudan and Ethiopia has accelerated during the Sudanese army’s redeployment on its eastern borders and the restoration of some areas that had been controlled by the Ethiopian militia tens of years ago,
The redeployment came after political directives from the Sudanese government to the armed forces to redeploy in those areas and recover them to Sudanese territory. The Sudanese army began to redeploy after the war was waged by the government of (Abi Ahmed) the Ethiopian Prime Minister against The Tigray Liberation Front, which has been active in recent times and launched successive attacks on the Ethiopian army bases, which created a large wave of displacement on Sudanese lands on its eastern borders. The Ethiopian presence in the Al-Fashaqa Al-Kubra area.
The Ethiopian presence, before the redeployment of the Sudanese army, is stationed in the Alaw camp, which is located about 1 kilometer southeast of the Sudanese Armed Forces camp in Alaw, m, and about 24 km inside the Sudanese territory and in Tomat Al-Lakdi which is located 3 km east of the Al-Lakdi station inside the Sudanese territories on the asphalt road linking Al-Lakdi and the Ethiopian city of Hamra, and it is 5 km away from the international border inside the Sudanese territory A member of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, the official spokesperson for the Council, Muhammad Al-Faki Suleiman, revealed that the Fashaqa area is not one of the disputed areas, and said that it is a hundred percent Sudanese region, indicating that the Sudanese and Ethiopian maps and documents confirm this. He said the Ethiopian trespassing began with political circumstances from the defunct regime, and a number of areas were evacuated at the time, explaining that the Ethiopian presence in the areas of Al-Fashaqa Al-kubra ( the bigger Fashaga region) and Al-Sughr a (the small Fashaga region )is in 17 points, and that the Ethiopian presence in the area of Al-Fashaqa Al-Kubra is in 7 points represented in Al-Alaw camp, which is located about 1 km southeast of the Armed Forces camp Sudanese in Alaw , and within Sudanese territory about by 24 km, and Tomat Al-Lakdi which is located 3 km east of the Al-Lakdi station inside the Sudanese territories on the asphalt road linking Al-Lakdi and the Ethiopian city of Hamra, 5 km from the international borders inside Sudanese territory, and the Teba Serbi site which is located inside Sudanese territory, at a depth of 3 km, and the Halka Asara camp which is located 22 km inside Sudanese territory, and Tesfai Kahsai camp located 9 km inside Sudanese territory, and a camp called the Ethiopian Federal Police Force Camps located 5 km inside Sudanese territory, and the customs camp in which there is an Ethiopian customs force, and it is located 5.5 inside Sudanese territory. He said that the Ethiopian presence in the Al-Fashaqa Al-Sughra area is in 10 points representing the Jabal Tayara camp. It is located to the south of the Anfal region, by about 5 km inside Sudanese territory, and the site camp is located east of the village of Gemmayzeh located 1 km east of the river, and the site camp is located east of Birkat Noreen. It is about 1 km from the river to the east of the river, 16 km inside the Sudanese territories, and the Ethiopian Salmon Project camp. It is located 500 meters east of Wad Koli inside the Sudanese territory, while Wad Koli is located 7.5 km inside Sudanese territory, and the Khor Hamar camp which is located 1 km inside Sudanese territory, and the Khor Hamar camp which is located 2 km inside Sudanese territory, and the camp of Tilda campis located 7 km inside Sudanese territory, and the end of al-Radmiya camp leads to the family site, 10 km inside Sudanese territory, and the Jabal Abu Tayour camp located 11 km within the Sudanese borders Declaration of war on Ethiopia: Member of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, the official spokesperson of the Council, Professor Muhammad Al-Faki stressed that Sudan has not declared war on Ethiopia, and does not seek to ignite it with the neighbors. He added that Sudan’s choice to resolve differences with its neighbor, Ethiopia, is dialogue by peaceful means to resolve disputes, especially since the decision to expand the Sudanese armed forces in its territories was not a decision of the military authorities, but rather a political decision of the Security and Defense Council, which includes political, diplomatic, and balanced bodies, in addition to military and security services which means that the decision to expand the army in its lands was totally political decision .
He further noted that what is required on the ground is to show the markers and border separating marks to show the fact that the Sudanese army is located within its internationally recognized territory. Mr. Muhammad al-Faki, a member of the Transitional Sovereign Council, said that Sudan did not declare war against Ethiopia, and no decision was issued to do so, stressing that we are not advocates of war. He added in a press conference at the Sudan News Agency yesterday that what is happening in the eastern border is the redeployment of the Sudanese army within the Sudanese borders. Media war and Sudanese silence Ethiopia, through its embassy in Khartoum, launched a media war against Khartoum, whereby the Ethiopian ambassador to Khartoum demanded the Sudanese army to withdraw from the areas it had seized, and the Ethiopian air force conducted military maneuvers inside the territories in provocative attempts by the Sudanese army, which committed itself to staying inside its territory. The Sovereignty Council member affirmed that the decision to restore Sudanese lands is a political, not a military one. He said, “We have been criticized for our media silence because we see that this is streamlined in he media escalation between the two countries, but there are unbalanced rhetoric from the Ethiopians that forced us to do so.” On Friday, the Ethiopian embassy in Sudan published a clarification on a statement attributed to it on the situation of the Ethiopians in Khartoum and Gedaref. ”The embassy said in the statement that the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia has learned of a false notice circulating on social media platforms regarding the treatment of Ethiopians living in the states of Gedaref and Khartoum,” . ”The embassy would like to confirm that the notice has not been issued by the embassy,” it added. The embassy stated that it also believes that such unjustified measures are being carried out by elements that wish to create discord and transfer it between the peoples and governments of Ethiopia and Sudan. The statement concluded by saying: “The embassy would like to advise Ethiopians living in Sudan to be wary of similar misinformation attempts and to follow the embassy’s official social media to obtain accurate and official data only.” In the past few hours, a statement attributed to the Ethiopian embassy has spread claiming that barbaric attacks occurred against members of the Ethiopian community in Khartoum and Gedaref by organized groups targeting women and children in broad daylight. The spokesman for the Sudanese Sovereign Council, Muhammad Al-Faki Suleiman, said that the only way to solve the border issue is the continuation of the joint technical committee meetings (between Sudan and Ethiopia) on displaying border markers with Ethiopia. He added, “We share with the Ethiopian refugees what we have despite the meager capabilities,” calling on the international community and the organizations concerned to carry out their tasks and provide support to these refugees. He noted that “there are no attacks on Ethiopians residing in Khartoum,” noting that “there are some agencies (he did not name them) that are working on fueling the situation,” without further details.
