Ethiopia Says Sudanese Defense Force Misrepresented Facts About Border Incident

June 27, 2022

The Ethiopian government tends to believe that the recent incident along the Ethio-Sudan border area is a “concocted” one. 

Disputed Al-Fashaga area between Ethiopia and Sudan border ( Map : Institute For Security Studies)

Borkena 

After Sudan accused Ethiopia of capturing and executing seven Sudanese soldiers,  the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia on Monday said that the Sudanese Defence Forces misrepresented facts about the border incident which is said to have occurred on June 22, 2022. 

On the date mentioned above, the Sudanese forces, with support from the TPLF terrorists,  made additional incursions into the Ethiopian territory along the border –  a development that triggered a skirmish with the local militia. 

Sudan made claims, according to a report by Reuters, that its soldiers were taken from within the Sudanese territory and executed in Ethiopia. 

The update from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia admitted that there were losses [unspecified number] of lives during the clash between local militia and Sudanese forces. 

“The Ethiopian Government regrets the loss of life as a result of a skirmish between the Sudanese army and a local militia of which an investigation would be carried out soon,”  said the statement from the MFAE. 

As to the narrative from the government of Sudan regarding what it called “execution”, Ethiopia rejected it as a “misrepresentation of facts.” 

The Ministry said, “Whereas the above was what has transpired at the common border, the Government of Ethiopia categorically rejects the misrepresentation of these facts by the Sudanese defense forces that unjustly put the blame on Ethiopia while it was the Sudanese army unit that has crossed into the Ethiopian border provoking the incident.” 

Sudan invaded Ethiopian territories in November 2020 soon after the Ethiopian troops posted in the area were relocated to Northern Ethiopia to carry out what the Ethiopian government called at the time “law enforcement operation” against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) after the latter attacked the Northern Command of the Ethiopian Defense Force in the same month. 

It appeared that Sudan was coordinating with the TPLF. This month,Simo Parviainen,  a former Finnish diplomat warned that TPLF is working with partners in Sudan and Egypt as part of its preparation for the next round of war. 

There were also reports that over 20,000 TPLF troops were in Sudan poised as asylum seekers. Despite talks for peaceful negotiation, the TPLF government has been making preparations to launch another round of war against Ethiopia. 

Sudan is recalling, according to an Aljazeera report, its Ambassador to Ethiopia. 

For the government of Ethiopia, the latest incident along the Ethio-Sudan border area is a manufactured one with the intention to distract Ethiopia from its effort to attain development. 

“The Government of Ethiopia believes that the incident was deliberately concocted to undermine the deep-rooted relations between the peoples of Ethiopia and the Sudan. On top of that, the incident was designed to destruct [distract] Ethiopia from its path of peace and development,” said the statement from the Ministry. 

Meanwhile, Egyptian News sources are reporting that Sudanese forces took control of territories in Ethiopia. 

 In breaking news coverage, Daily News Egypt reported ” Sudan’s army says it took control of “Frankincense Fortress” military camp in Al-Fashaga after intense fighting with Ethiopian forces. This comes as the Sudanese army vowed to avenge the 7 Sudanese soldiers who were executed in Ethiopia.” 

The Ethiopian government did not remark on that at this writing.