Ethiopian Militias Invade the Border Strip with Al-Gadarif State

The Deputy Chairman of the Eastern Sudan Coordination Committee, Mubarak Al-Nour, disclosed on Friday a new incursion by Ethiopian militias, backed by the official army, into villages along the border strip with Al-Gadarif State, preventing dozens of Sudanese farmers from cultivating their lands.

During 2020, the Sudanese army redeployed along the border with Ethiopia and reclaimed approximately 90% of the agricultural land in Al-Fashaga area, which had been occupied by Ethiopians for 26 years.

Ethiopian groups linked to the ruling regime in Addis Ababa have exploited the ongoing war in Sudan by redeploying to areas from which they had previously been expelled after the Sudanese army evacuated a number of its border posts and used soldiers on the border to support military operations in Khartoum and Al-Gezira.

Mubarak Al-Nour, a former parliamentarian representing Al-Fashaga area in Al-Gadarif State, told Sudan Tribune, “There is a new incursion by Ethiopian militias into the same lands previously reclaimed by the army.”

He explained that a number of Ethiopian farmers have returned to these areas and are actively cleaning the agricultural lands under the protection of the government and the Ethiopian army, in preparation for cultivation after they expelled the Sudanese and prevented them from cleaning the land.

He warned of the Jeopardy of the deteriorating security situation along the border strip in light of the intense Ethiopian movements in these areas coinciding with the onset of rainfall, expressing his fear that these conditions could affect the agricultural season.

He urged both the Transitional Sovereignty Council and Cabinet, and all security and military organs to take the necessary measures to protect farmers along the border strip, expel the Ethiopians from these farms, and impose the state’s prestige and sovereignty on the border.