Ethiopia Says it is Ready to Cooperate with Investigation of Sudanese Soldiers “Execution”

June 28, 2022

Sudan news sources claim a large-scale offensive in retaliation for soldiers killed within the Ethiopian border. Ethiopian Defense Force said there were no troops deployed to the area into which the Sudanese Forces made an incursion last week    

Colonel Getnet Adane , Ethiopian Defense Force Public Relations Director ( Photo credit : ENA

Borkena 

Ethiopian Defense Force Public Relations Director, Colonel Getnet Adane, on Tuesday, said that the Ethiopian Defense Force is ready to cooperate in the investigation of claims of execution of seven Sudanese soldiers.

“Regarding the attack, if there is any entity interested in investigating it, Defense Force representatives from the two countries could form a committee and the Ethiopian Defense Force is ready to cooperate,” he said, as cited in an Ethiopian News Agency report.  

The claim, on the part of Sudan, that the Ethiopian Forces executed soldiers in a way that violates war captive treatment is baseless, it was said. 

Colonel Getnet said that the Ethiopian Defense Force was not posted in the parts of Ethiopian border areas into which the Sudanese force made incursions last week. 

He added that Sudanese Forces who made incursions into the Ethiopian area “clashed with local militias[from the Ethiopian side]”, and that there were casualties on both sides. 

“The Ethiopian army does not operate like a bandit. It has a strict command system and will not act without orders from the government,” Colonel Getnet said.  

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia on Monday issued a statement saying Sudan misrepresented the facts about the death of seven Sudanese soldiers inside the Ethiopian border in the Al-Fashga area. 

Claims of large-scale military offensive by Sudanese Forces 

Meanwhile, Sudan news sources are making claims that the Sudanese  Defense Force launched an extensive attack on the Ethiopian Defense Force positions in the Al-Fashaga area. 

Sudan Tribune on Tuesday said, “Sudanese army launched a large-scale attack on the Ethiopian troops remaining inside the disputed border area of Al Fashaga on Tuesday.” 

It also cited a reporter in Gadaref to report that “the Sudanese army retook Kala-Leban and Barkhat settlements and Tesfai Adawi Hills in the Fashaga.” 

The number of casualties from this operation is unspecified but it said that “dozens of Ethiopian troops” were captured. 

The Ethiopian government has not yet remarked on the claims of the Sudanese Forces victory in Al-Fasgaga following the incident on June 22. 

Ethiopian analysts and activists related the latest crisis along the Ethio-Sudan border to a move made to obstruct the third filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

The Ethiopian government on Monday said the crisis was a concocted one.

Al Burhan’s government of Sudan has been supporting the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) after the latter attacked the Northern command of Ethiopian Forces in November 2020.