Today, Sunday, the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that what it described as the aggression carried out by Ethiopia by entering its forces into Sudanese lands is a direct violation of Sudan's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Yesterday, Saturday, the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry accused the Sudanese forces of crossing the border and looting Ethiopian property, but it showed its willingness to accept mediation to resolve the border dispute with Sudan.
A statement by the Sudanese Foreign Ministry said, "The Ethiopian aggression on Sudanese territory is an escalation that is unfortunate and unacceptable, and that it would have dangerous repercussions on security and stability in the region."
The statement added that Sudan requested the Ethiopian side to ensure the completion of the re-demarcation of the agreed-upon borders.
A well-informed Sudanese military source told Al-Jazeera that intelligence reports stated that the Ethiopian army had taken up positions on the Ethiopian side since last night, in the areas of Hamra, Barkhit and Al-Ruwyan, and that those crowds were equipped with heavy weapons, according to the source.
Last week witnessed clashes between the Sudanese army and Ethiopian gunmen at a number of border points, leaving two people dead in the ranks of the Sudanese army.
Counter charges
On the other hand, Reuters reported that the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said - yesterday on its Facebook page - that its spokesman, Dina Mufti, called on the Sudanese government to "stop the looting and deportation of Ethiopian citizens, which began since the 9th of last November."
Clashes erupted at the end of last year between Ethiopian and Sudanese forces in the Fashaqa area, which is inhabited by Ethiopian farmers, located on the Sudanese side of the border that was demarcated in the early twentieth century.
Sudan said last month that an Ethiopian plane had crossed its airspace, which Addis Ababa denied.
On Saturday, Ethiopia accused the Sudanese forces of crossing the border and looting the property of Ethiopian citizens, and the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry spokesman said - yesterday, Saturday - that his country is ready to accept mediation in order to settle the border conflict with Sudan, as soon as his army evacuates the area it occupied by force.
While the Sudanese authorities say they do not want war with Ethiopia, and that the Sudanese army intervened at the end of last year with the aim of "controlling all of its territory."
Tut Qalwak, the security advisor to the President of South Sudan, visited Khartoum last Thursday as part of the mediation efforts between Sudan and Ethiopia.