Thousands of Ethiopians, including soldiers fleeing fighting in the dissident Tigray region in the north of the country, have crossed the western border into Sudan, a Sudanese official said on Tuesday (November 10th).

"Refugees continue to arrive, the situation is changing hour by hour," Alsir Khaled, director of the Sudanese refugee agency in the border town of Kassala, told AFP. 

A witness also reported on condition of anonymity that "women and young children were attempting to cross" the Tekeze, one of the tributaries of the Nile which runs along the border. 

Since Monday, "a thousand Ethiopians have crossed the border and reached the Sudanese region of Hamdait, in Kassala state. We are currently registering them," Alsir said.

"The impact of the conflict"

In "the state of Gedaref, 500 people arrived yesterday (Monday) among which the soldiers", indicated this official, without specifying if they belonged to the army of Addis Ababa or if they were Tigrayans. 

Tigray is a dissident region in northern Ethiopia where Addis Ababa has been leading a large-scale military operation since November 4.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, 2019 Nobel Peace Prize winner, launched this operation against the Tigray authorities, whom he had previously accused of having attacked two federal army bases on their territory, which they deny . 

Saying "worried about the impact of the ongoing conflict", spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Babar Baloch, also reported on Tuesday the presence of "several hundred applicants asylum "at two border posts in the area.  

Meanwhile, UNHCR is "in the process of mobilizing resources" to provide them with "emergency aid". 

Refugee camps 

In addition to the help provided collectively by the population and the local authorities, the latter also opened a center near the border to welcome asylum seekers, before "sending them to the Chajrab refugee camp, in the region of Kassala, ”Alsir Khaled added. 

But "this is beyond the capacity of the authorities (...) and so far international organizations have not yet given support" to the Sudanese efforts, he said. 

The Ethiopian air force has launched several rounds of raids on Tigrayan positions while on the ground, fighting involving heavy artillery has been reported between federal troops and Tigrayan security forces, particularly in the west. 

With AFP

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