Sudan launches assault on Ethiopia after alleged executions
Khartoum and Addis Ababa trade accusations as clashes and shelling break out in several areas of the contested al-Fashaga border area
By Mohammed Amin in Khartoum
The Sudanese military has launched an offensive against Ethiopian forces along the contested al-Fashaga border with Ethiopia, after the alleged execution of seven soldiers and a civilian ratcheted up tensions between the countries.
Conflict in fertile al-Fashaga, which is claimed by both Khartoum and Addis Ababa, occasionally flares up but has been largely dormant this year as Sudan’s authorities consolidate their rule following an October military coup, while Ethiopia remains embroiled in a brutal civil war.
However, the Sudanese military said on Sunday that seven of its soldiers and a civilian had been executed by Ethiopian forces in Amhara. Sudan said the men were seized in Sudanese territory and brought to Ethiopia last week.
The deaths and claims have sparked military, political and diplomatic escalation, with Ethiopia denying it was responsible for the killings and accusing Sudan of cooperating with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which the Ethiopian government is at war with.
