Sudanese security sources told Al Jazeera that the Sudanese army confronted Ethiopian forces that tried to incur an incursion into the Umm Barakit sector (east of the country), and forced them to retreat, while the Ethiopian side denied this, stressing that it did not take any military action.
Brigadier-General Taher Abu Haja, media advisor to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, told Anadolu Agency that the Sudanese army responded to a new incursion attempt by Ethiopian forces in the Umm Barakit sector in the Al-Fashqa area, and forced it to retreat.
He added that the army will not allow the Ethiopian forces to enter Al-Fashqa again after its recovery.
For a while, the Sudanese-Ethiopian border has been experiencing tensions, as Khartoum announced on December 31 that the army had taken control of the entire territory of his country in the Al-Fashqa border area with Ethiopia.
On the other hand, Addis Ababa accuses the Sudanese army of seizing 9 camps inside Ethiopian territory since last November, which Khartoum denies.
border signs
Sudan demands the establishment of border markers with Ethiopia based on the May 15, 1902 agreement signed in Addis Ababa between Ethiopia and Britain (on behalf of Sudan), and its first article clarifies the international borders between the two countries.
The director of Al Jazeera's office in Addis Ababa, Mohamed Taha Tawakul, said that the Ethiopian side denied any movement in this region, stressing that the country adopts the utmost restraint along the border with Sudan, and adheres to the peaceful option.
It is noteworthy that Ethiopian gangs seized the lands of Sudanese farmers in Al-Fashqa after expelling them by force of arms. Khartoum accuses the Ethiopian army of supporting these gangs, but Addis Ababa always denies this.
After an absence of about 25 years, the Sudanese army redeployed on March 30th in the aforementioned area.
And last November, the Transitional Sovereignty Council confirmed not to waste any inch of Sudanese territory, according to the official agency.