The Sudanese Army launched an offensive on Tuesday in the Fashaga area, in dispute with Addis Ababa
June 29. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The African Union (AU) has shown this Wednesday its “deep concern” about the “military tensions” between Sudan and Ethiopia after the Sudanese Army launched an offensive on Tuesday in the Fashaga area, located on the border and a source of disputes for months between the two countries.
The president of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, has said that he “deeply regrets the loss of life on the common border” and has called for “maximum restraint” in the face of any military action. Thus, he has called for “dialogue between two sister countries to resolve any dispute,” according to a statement published by the agency.
Thus, he stressed that “the recent skirmishes on the border should not prevent diplomatic solutions from being sought to resolve the internal challenges in both member states” and has asked the parties to “continue to contribute to a peaceful resolution of the border dispute” under the auspices of the AU.
Finally, Mahamat has shown his “conviction” that the “long-standing brotherly relations” between the two countries and their “enviable status” as founding states of the AU “will inspire both parties to immediately stop all hostilities, in the interest of of regional stability and collective security”.
The words of the president of the AU Commission have come a day after a Sudanese military offensive in Fashaga, days after Khartoum accused Addis Ababa of having executed seven soldiers and a civilian captured last week.
In response, Ethiopia stated that Sudanese soldiers entered its territory with the support of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Tigray (TPLF) and noted that the incident led to clashes with a local militia. In this regard, they stressed that there were no Ethiopian soldiers in the area.
According to information collected by the Sudanese news portal Sudan Tribune, the Sudanese Army took control of the settlements of Kala Leban and Barjat, in the Tesfai Adawi area, without the Ethiopian authorities having spoken so far and there is no information on casualties in combat.
The Fashaga area has been the scene of tensions in recent years and both countries began work on the demarcation of the border in December 2020 after several incidents, which revolved around the presence of Ethiopian farmers in Sudanese territories, a fact that it was tacitly tolerated by former Sudanese President Omar Hassan al Bashir.
The Sudanese authorities that emerged from the agreement after the coup that overthrew Al Bashir in April 2019 maintain a different position and demand that these farmers leave the area, which has caused an increase in tensions with Ethiopia.
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