Sudan summons Ethiopia envoy over deadly cross-border attack

Sudan has summoned the Ethiopian embassy’s charge d’affaires over a border attack by suspected Ethiopian rebel fighters that killed and wounded several Sudanese army personnel and civilians, Khartoum said in a statement on Saturday.

Thursday’s attack targeted a camp in the eastern city of Gadarif, the official SUNA news agency said.

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A Sudanese military spokesman blamed fighters “supported by Ethiopia” for the attack, according to SUNA.

There was no immediate comment from Addis Adaba.

Some Ethiopian groups have used farmland in the Sudanese al-Fashqa border region for decades. The former Sudanese government of deposed veteran leader Omar al-Bashir turned a blind eye, but the current transitional authorities in Khartoum are trying to expel the groups.

On Friday, Sudan’s army spokesman, General Amer Mohamed al-Hassan, said in a statement that one Sudanese officer had been killed and seven other soldiers injured in the attack.

“We decided to give chance for diplomacy in Khartoum and Addis Abbas to calm the situation on the border strip before it turns into an all-out war between the two countries,” said al-Hassan.

He added that the recent attacks on Sudanese territory by the Ethiopian army and armed groups violated previous agreements between the two countries.

Al-Hassan called on Ethiopia to abide by its agreements with Sudan on their mutual boundaries, along with deployments of official forces on either side of the border.

Sudan and Ethiopia have been engaged in continuous talks over the demarcation of the borders between the two countries.

According to Sudan’s foreign ministry, the attack happened while Khartoum was preparing for a meeting of a high-level joint committee on border issues.

SOURCE: Aljazeera