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Leaders from across East Africa gathered in Djibouti on Sunday for a special summit to discuss the conflict in Ethiopia, where fighting continues in the northern Tigray region following a federal government operation to eradicate leaders of the Front of Liberation of the People of Tigray (TPLF).
Sudan and Ethiopia have decided to hold more discussions scheduled for Tuesday to discuss their shared border, according to a statement Sunday from the office of Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, the AFP news agency reported.
Hamdok and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed held talks on the sidelines of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) summit, following last week’s clashes between Ethiopian troops and Sudanese forces throughout their border.
Sudan’s army had said its soldiers were attacked by Ethiopian forces and militias on Tuesday inside Sudanese territory, and media in Khartoum said four soldiers were killed and 27 wounded.
The clashes raised fears that a regional conflict in Ethiopia, which has already drawn Eritrea, could spread across the region.
Abiy said in a tweet that he was grateful for the IGAD leaders’ understanding of Ethiopia’s law enforcement measures, the term Addis Ababa uses to describe military operations in Tigray, as legal and legitimate.
The Djibouti summit was attended by Moussa Faki Mahamat, President of the African Union bloc, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, Somalia President Mohamed Farmaajo, Djibouti President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, as well as Abiy and Hamdok.
The summit was also marked by a meeting between Farmaajo and Kenyatta, after Somalia’s recent move to cut diplomatic ties with Nairobi. the two were photographed sitting diagonally across from each other at a table with Abiy and Guelleh.
Kenyatta’s decision to host his Somaliland counterpart, Muse Bihi Abdi, last week for a three-day visit angered Mogadishu, which does not recognize the breakaway region.
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