Senior Sudanese Army General Inspects Troops on Border with Ethiopia

Lt Gen Yasir al-Atta greets a soldier during his visit to Al-Fasha Al-Seghra on the Ethiopian border on 11 Feb 2021 ST photo)February 11, 2021 (GADREF) - A senior Sudanese military official, on Thursday, inspected the army troops deployed on the border with Ethiopia after reports of troops build-up from the other side of the border.

Lt Gen Yasir al-Atta who is also a member of the Sovereign Council travelled to the border area to meet the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) in Abu Tayour, Wad Arroud in Al-Fasha Al-Seghra.

Since last November, Sudan deployed a significant number of troops and launched the construction of a road network as well as military infrastructures in the eastern Sudan areas.

Addressing the troops, Atta said his government intends to end the abandon of the Sudanese territory by the former regime and negligence of its people who were subjected to attacks by Amhara militiamen to force them to leave their farms.

The army "is committed to retaking control of all Sudanese areas and then will establish permanent military bases at the international borders," he told the soldiers.

He stressed that they have no plans to wage war on Ethiopia but to defend the integrity of the Sudanese territory as recognized by the signed agreement under the international law.

On Wednesday, the army recaptured 50,000 agricultural acres from Ethiopian militias after violent clashes between the two parties.

In a related development, another Sudanese general member of the Sovereign Council, Lt Gen Shams al-Din Kabbashi, denounced statements by the Ethiopian ambassador in Khartoum, saying it represents a violation of "diplomatic norms."

In several occasions, Yibeltal Aemro Ethiopian Ambassador to Sudan spoke about Sudanese occupation of Ethiopian territory and repeated statements by officials in Addis Ababa about their rejection to resume any talks with Sudan before the withdrawal of the SAF from the claimed areas.

Kabbashi further told Al Arabiya TV channel, on Thursday that the Sudanese army had regained "a large part of its territory from Ethiopia" before to add "There is a daily Ethiopian military escalation, and our forces are being bombed on the border."

European and South Sudanese officials were in Khartoum recently calling for deescalate border tensions and proposed their mediation.

The Sudanese government says the border demarcation has been negotiated pointing to agreements signed in 1902 and 1972 and what is needed now is to place border markers.

(ST)