Sudan thwarts Ethiopian incursion amid protests in east

Hauwa Mustapha

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Sudanese military says it has repelled an attempted incursion by Ethiopian forces in the border area between the two countries.

The Ethiopian forces were forced to retreat from the Umm Barakit area, a military statemen, without giving further details.

The head of Sudan’s military, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, told reporters the incident took place on Saturday.

He said it showed how the military was protecting the country in the wake of a coup attempt in Khartoum last week.

Colonel Getnet Adane, Ethiopia’s military spokesman, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tensions along the border between Sudan and Ethiopia have escalated since the outbreak of a conflict in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region last year that sent tens of thousands of refugees into eastern Sudan.

The tensions have focused on an area of fertile farmland known as Meanwhile, protesters in eastern Sudan shut a pipeline that carries imported crude oil to the capital Khartoum.al-Fashqa, where the border is disputed.

South Africa EFF’s wants incapable Protesters from the Beja tribes in eastern Sudan have been shutting ports and blocking roads in protest against what they describe as poor political and economic conditions in the region.

The Beja tribe said the deal is “not representative and does not address the root causes of marginalization” and “underdevelopment in the eastern region”, Morgan said.

“They say they want to make sure the government understands what it means to have an economic crisis, to be underdeveloped and to get their voices heard,” she added.

The demonstrators’ aim is to hold a conference with various tribes and ethnicities in the eastern region to come up with an alternative to the peace agreement.

The ministry has appealed to the protesters to end the shutdown within a week to spare the country huge financial and technical losses.

Gadian Ali Obaid, Sudan’s minister of oil and energy, said in an interview: “The authorities are attempting to fix the issue of the closure of the ports.”

On Saturday, he said there are enough reserves for the country’s needs for up to 10 days.

Khartoum oil refinery, which produces fuel for domestic consumption, is still working normally, according to the ministry.

On Friday, an adviser to Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok accused unidentified forces of using those protests to damage the economy and put pressure on the transitional government, which is ruling after the removal of Omar al-Bashir in 2019.

Stopping oil exports “will lead to major economic losses”, the aide, Yaser Arman, said in a statement.

He estimated potential damages of a prolonged stoppage at more than $1bn.

Aljazeera

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