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KHARTOUM – Sudan’s army continues to deploy in disputed Sudanese farmland neighboring Ethiopia’s war-torn Tigray region. The Sudanese government does not comment on the troop movements.
Sudanese forces moved into the agricultural area bordering Ethiopia on Thursday and have since spread across lands that had been controlled by Ethiopian militias for more than 25 years, a long-standing source of friction between Khartoum and Addis Ababa.
Ethiopian armed groups called “Shefta” are very active during harvest time every year, stealing crops from farms in Fashaqa and other towns claimed by Sudan.
Tigray humanitarian corridor closed puts UN aid operation in Limbo UN aid agencies say emergency operations will be able to move forward when humanitarian corridor opens
A local security official who requested anonymity told VOA that Sudanese troops are asserting control of the territory.
It says that the Sudanese army spread east from Berkat Norain, originally Sudanese land. Because the Ethiopian army is busy with the Tigray conflict, it is an opportunity for the Sudanese army to take over this area.
In May this year, an Ethiopian militia attacked the villages surrounding the eastern city of Qadarif, killing five civilians and killing several Sudanese military personnel.
Sudan condemned the attack and accused the Ethiopian government of supporting the militias.
Khartoum-based analyst Mohydeen Jibreel recently visited the area.
Jibreel says he doesn’t think Sudan or Ethiopia will comment on the Sudanese troop movement, adding that Ethiopia has bigger issues to deal with and doesn’t want a conflict with Sudan.
Sudan is hosting Ethiopian refugees who fled the fighting in Tigray when war broke out there in November between the federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
More than 43,000 refugees are divided into three camps in the cities of Qadarif and Kassala in Sudan.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that the number of refugees will reach 100,000 in a few weeks.
