Sudan to hand over 60 Ethiopian militiamen, soldiers

April 10, 2021 (GADAREF) – The Sudanese army will hand over dozens of Ethiopian militiamen and soldiers arrested during sporadic clashes on the Sudanese-Ethiopian border.

Reliable military sources told the Sudan Tribune that the handover process was supposed to take place on Saturday in the border town of Galabat, but it postponed to Monday for more technical arrangements.

“The military and administrative arrangements in the 2nd Infantry Division Command have been completed to release 60 Ethiopian prisoners of the army and Amhara militias,” said the military sources.

The military officials pointed out that those Ethiopian elements were arrested by Military Intelligence inside Sudanese territory in the Al-Fashaga area where they used to attack Sudanese farmers and herders over the past six months.

They further said that the handover of prisoners confirms Sudan’s keenness to keep up ties of good neighbourliness and to enforce the joint protocols between the two countries.

It is expected that the handover process will take place in the presence of a security committee from the Amhara region bordering the Gadaref State in eastern Sudan.

The Sudanese military said the situation on the border is stable dismissed reports about fresh clashes between the armies of the two countries.

“The Sudanese army has been deployed along the border strip to secure all cotton and corn harvesting operations and the movement of herders,” the military further said.

On 1 December 2020, the Sudanese army handed back 50 Ethiopian soldiers who crossed the border area of Al-Fashaqa in Gadaref state during the fighting with the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).

(ST)