African Union Urges Calm in Border Dispute After Sudanese Forces Bombard Ethiopian Positions

The risk of a new war in eastern Africa continues to rise after an old border dispute between Sudan and Ethiopia was rekindled last week.

In a statement on Wednesday, African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat urged the Sudanese and Ethiopian sides to “refrain from any military action, whatever its origin, and call[ed] for dialogue between the two brotherly countries to solve any dispute.”

The call came after Sudanese media reported on Tuesday that the country’s armed forces had launched a “large-scale attack” on Ethiopian troops in Al-Fashaqa, a fertile region of Sudan on the border with Ethiopia. Sudanese artillery bombarded Ethiopian positions, and while Addis Ababa has claimed no troops were killed, the Khartoum-based Sudan Tribune reported that “the Sudanese army captured dozens of Ethiopian troops.”

Al-Fashaga residents and officials who spoke with Middle East Eye on Tuesday seemed to confirm Addis’ position, with one person telling the publication “it’s between us and the Amhara militias that are backed by the Ethiopian military.”

However, others in the area told MEE that the Ethiopians had seized the seven Sudanese troops in Sudanese territory before taking them to Ethiopia to be killed.

Last week, seven Sudanese troops were captured and killed after crossing the border into Ethiopia, with the Sudanese Army claiming they were prisoners of war and had been executed.

“[T]his treacherous situation will not pass without a response,” the Sudanese Army said, vowing it would “respond to this cowardly behavior.”

However, the government of Ethiopian President Abiy Ahmed has claimed there were no Ethiopian Defense Force (EDF) troops in the area where the Sudanese troops entered, and that they must have been killed by local militia forces.

On Tuesday, EDF Public Relations Director Col. Getnet Adane suggested the two countries form a joint committee to investigate the incident. Sudan’s National Commission for Human Rights condemned the killings on Wednesday and appealed to its counterpart in Ethiopia to carry out a joint probe.

In Sudan, both the right-wing National Umma Party and left-wing Sudanese Congress Party have called for unity behind what they termed a “war for Sudanese dignity.” However, the Resistance Committee leading the left-wing democratic movement has accused Gen. Abdel Fattal Al-Burhan, the de facto military leader, of using the incident to draw attention away from the deep political crisis endangering his government.

“Burhan wants to mix the papers and draw attention away from the big 30 June rallies we are organizing as revolutionary forces to bring his regime down,” a Resistance Committee leader told Middle East Eye. “After he used violence and killed a lot of people he is now using this maneuver to contain the mobilization of the rally.”

The Fashaqa region is part of Sudan’s precious Qadarif breadbasket region, which receives some of the most rain in the arid country. However, Ethiopian farmers have worked the valley under a 2008 agreement that gave Sudan continued administrative control over the area. That deal began to fall apart in late 2020 after Ethiopia became embroiled in war following the insurrection by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).

Amid the conflict between Abiy’s government and the TPLF, more than 73,000 Ethiopians have fled as refugees into Sudan, creating a new humanitarian crisis on top of the political crisis that has been unfolding in that country since December 2018, when demonstrations began that eventually forced longtime military ruler Omar al-Bashir from power. Last October, the Sudanese military again seized power, ousting a civilian interim ruler and provoking new mass demonstrations demanding democracy and civilian rule.

Tensions have also brewed between Ethiopia and Sudan over the filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), a large hydroelectric plant on the Blue Nile just upstream from the border with Sudan. The river’s annual flooding provides water to Sudan and Egypt, leading those two nations to claim the dam as a threat; however, Addis Ababa has countered that the dam, which will be Africa’s largest once completed, will provide a huge amount of electricity to benefit the entire region.