Sudan army: ‘Border with Ethiopia is defined, we will not give up one inch of our land’

The Sudanese army declared on Friday that the international borders with Ethiopia are clear and indisputable and that they “will not give up one inch” of their country’s territory.

This came in a statement issued by the Sudanese Armed Forces’ (SAF) account on Facebook, two days after confrontations with an Ethiopian armed militia on the borders of the two countries.

Sudanese army soldiers in Sudan on 31 August 2019 [EBRAHIM HAMID/AFP/Getty Images]

The statement added: “We are not warmongers. Ethiopia is a neighbouring country, and we maintain good relations with it, but we will not give up one inch of our country’s territory.”

The statement continued: “The international borders with the neighbouring country, Ethiopia, are obvious and unquestionable. Therefore, we stand on the last point of our internationally-recognised borders. We will not tolerate imposing our control over the entire territory of our country.”

Local media cited anonymous military sources reporting the murder of four Sudanese soldiers and the injury of 12 others, following violent confrontations with armed Ethiopian militias on the border strip between the two countries.

READ: Sudan Revolutionary Front declares support for army against border attacks

Last May, the Sudanese army announced that an Ethiopian militia backed by the national army had attacked the country’s land and its natural resources. One officer was killed, seven soldiers were wounded and another was missing. In addition, a child was killed and three other civilians were injured.

Usually, agricultural and harvest preparation periods in Sudan in the border areas with Ethiopia witness infiltration and attacks by armed gangs that are out of the control of the Addis Ababa authorities, to “seize resources”, according to Sudanese reports.

Source:middleeastmonitor.com/