Sudanese forces redeploy near the border with Ethiopia

Gadarif, July 24, 2021 – The Sudanese authorities closed the border crossing between Sudan and Ethiopia on Saturday, following the arrest of the commander of the military flankers area by Ethiopian militias.

The “Sudan Tribune” learned from its sources in the region that the Sudanese authorities closed the border crossing in the Sudanese city of Galabat, located in the locality of Basanda, after the disappearance of Captain Bahaa El-Din Youssef, commander of the Military Gallabat region, while pursuing Ethiopian militias who, on Friday, kidnapped three Sudanese children from within the border.

The Ethiopian militias took children from the Fellata tribes, aged between 10 and 15 years, while grazing cows near the dumps adjacent to the Ethiopian caravan in the Amhara region, to an unknown destination. A ransom for their release.

The Sudanese and Ethiopian cities of Qalabat are witnessing huge military build-ups, as the authorities in the Amhara region sent on Saturday morning military reinforcements aboard large personnel carriers equipped with weapons, and shops, cafes and hotels were closed.

According to the follow-up of the “Sudan Tribune”, the Ethiopian continuation is witnessing a heavy security deployment of the Ethiopian army and police in conjunction with the arrival of a high-ranking security, military and political delegation from Shahidi Governorate to discuss the repercussions of the security situation and intervene to contain the crisis between the two countries.

On the twentieth of last June, military leaders in Sudan and Ethiopia agreed to calm the security situation on the border strip and transfer border disputes to the political leadership of the two countries, but the attacks of Ethiopian militias backed by official forces on Sudanese farmers quickly caused the collapse of this agreement.

And since last November, the Sudanese army decided to redeploy in large areas adjacent to Ethiopia, which were seized by the Ethiopians and expelled from them the Sudanese farmers. The Ethiopian militias, backed by hidden government support, established major settlements over the past 26 years.

Military officials in Sudan said earlier that the redeployment process succeeded in restoring 95% of the Sudanese lands that were in the hands of the Ethiopian militias, which Ethiopia refuses to recognize and Khartoum repeatedly demands to return to the situation it was in last November.

On the other hand, Sudan adheres to the necessity of intensifying the border markings between the two countries and placing them at the appropriate distances to clarify the path of the border line based on the 1902 international agreements, the borders in