Tension remains high on border areas as Eritrea masses troops
July 26, 2021 (GEDAREF) – Tension Monday prevailed along the Sudanese Ethiopian border flowing the deployment of additional Eritrean troops and the continued closure of a road linking between the two countries.
In a stunning reversal, the fighters of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) retook Mekelle, the capital of the Tigray Region and moved to Afar in eastern Ethiopia. This military development has affected the humanitarian access to the northern region due to the growing insecurity and multiple checkpoints.
As a result, the number of Ethiopian refugees rose again in the Hamdayet Border Reception Centre. on Sunday, 35 refugees crossed into the border camp, compared to the average of 3 refugees per day recently.
Refugees who crossed from northern Ethiopia told the Sudan Tribune that Eritrea’s army massed heavily-equipped troops inside its territory near the Hamdayet tri-border area, where the Sudanese-Ethiopian and Eritrean boundaries meet.
The Eritrean army, also, set up a border camp near the Al-Dima area of Kassala State, amid military movements in the border area adjacent to the Tigray Region and Al-Fashqa in Sudan.
Eritrea and the Amhara armies are allied against the Tigray’s fighters who fought them over disputed border areas in the past.
In a related development, the areas of Shahidi and Jalqa in the Amhara Region, adjacent to the Al-Fashqa area witnessed clashes between the TPLF forces and Komnt ethnic forces on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Galabat border crossing between Sudan and Ethiopia continues to be closed after the refusal of Ethiopian authorities to release a Sudanese army captain Baha al-Din Youssef, who was arrested while he was hunting Ahmara militiamen who kidnapped 3 Sudanese children near Galabat town.
Sudanese and Ethiopian officials were expected to meet Monday to discuss the border closure but there is no information about the outcome of the meeting.
On Saturday, a Sudanese soldier was killed in clashes between Sudanese forces and Ethiopian militiamen in the border locality of Basanda during search operations for the missing children.
(ST)