Is it Over Water or Refugees? Sudan, Ethiopia Forces Clash

Published December 17th, 2020 - 07:19 GMT
Sudanese Brigadier General Jamal Omar Ali attends the end of mission ceremony for Sudanese troops fighting the Huthi rebels alongside Yemen's Saudi-backed pro-government forces, in the northern province of Hajjah near the border with Saudi arabia on December 13, 2020. AFP
Sudanese Brigadier General Jamal Omar Ali attends the end of mission ceremony for Sudanese troops fighting the Huthi rebels alongside Yemen's Saudi-backed pro-government forces, in the northern province of Hajjah near the border with Saudi arabia on December 13, 2020. AFP
Highlights
Government says attack occurred inside Sudanese territory.

Sudan said Wednesday that Ethiopian forces and militias ambushed its troops inside Sudanese territory on its eastern border with Ethiopia.  

The Sovereign Council, a joint military-civilian body that is ruling Sudan until elections can be held, said in a press release that the attack led to the loss of a number of lives, without elaborating.

The Sudanese Council of Ministers said in a separate statement that Ethiopian forces and militias ambushed a Sudanese army patrol in the Um Altyour area of Sudan.

Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok paid a visit to Ethiopia on Sunday and discussed border demarcation and the dispute over the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam with his Ethiopian counterpart Abiy Ahmed.

 

On Nov. 4, the Ethiopian government launched a law enforcement operation in its restive northernmost Tigray region after forces of the now outlawed Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) attacked the northern command of the Ethiopian army, killing soldiers and looting military hardware.  

Thousands of people are believed to have been displaced, some of them into Sudan, according to UN estimates. 

On Nov. 28, Abiy declared an end to the military operation following the fall of the city of Mekele, the capital of Tigray.

This article has been adapted from its original source.

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