June 5, 2021 (GADAREF) - Ethiopian militiamen killed two Sudanese farmers on the border strip between the two countries, east of the Gallabat town.

Eyewitnesses told the Sudan Tribune Saturday that the Ethiopian armed men sneaked into the Sudanese border killed two farmers after failing to kidnap them.

The gunmen sought to abduct Mohamed Ali Alsjan, the owner of a horticultural farm and Ali Khalifa a worker who was driving a tractor.

Witnesses told the Sudan Tribune that Ethiopian militiamen intercepted the two men and tried to kidnap them and demand a ransom. However, they shot dead the two farmers as they fiercely resisted the abductors.

After the attack, Bashir Mahmoud Ali another farmer informed the authorities of the incident where the bodies of the victims were found.

The farmers request the Sudanese army to establish permanent border stations.

On 31 May, the Ethiopian militiamen killed carried out a similar attack killing two farmers in the Khor Yabes area, north of Gallabat and kidnapped a herder.

Relations between Sudan and Ethiopia have deteriorated after the border claim by the government of Prime Minister Ahmed Abiy.

The regular attacks by the Amhara militiamen are perceived as an attempt by the government-backed armed men to spread insecurity in the border area inside Sudan and force the local farmers to abandon their frames.

The Sudanese army retook control of nearly all the border areas cultivated in the past by Ethiopian farmers.

(ST)