Five women, chid killed by Ethiopian force as border tensions escalate
Gadaref governor speaks with military commanders during a visit to the border area pn Monday 11 Jan 2021 (SUNA photo)
January 11, 2021 (GADAREF)- Ethiopian army launched an attack, on Monday noon, on Al-Layyah area of Al-Quraysha locality on the border strip, killing five women and a child and also two women are missing.
The latest development took place amid troops buildup from both sides as the Ethiopian air force carried out several sorties on the Ethiopian side of the border in the Amhara region.
Sudanese military officials told the Sudan Tribune on Monday that the attack on the Sudanese farmers took place during the corn harvesting operations in the border area.
They further said that the Ethiopian army snipers with automatic rifles soldiers targeted Sudanese troops but they missed their objectives and killed civilians
The attack took place a day after skirmishes on Sunday night in the "Wad Kuli" border area, during which the Sudanese forces repelled the Ethiopian attackers.
The slow military escalation from the Ethiopian army takes place as the Ethiopian diplomats speak about negotiated solutions and carry out a campaign saying the Sudanese forces attacked their territory and killed civilians.
The Sudanese government says they expelled from its territory Ethiopian farmers backed by militiamen and forces of the federal army from the Amhara region.
The two countries held a meeting last December but failed to agree on everything as the head of the Ethiopian delegation, the deputy prime minister who is an Amhara is accused personally of backing the attacks that took place in April and June last year.
The Sudanese Reserve Forces and the army evacuated the dead and buried them in the presence of police and army commanders as well as the local residents who attended massively the burial ceremony
For his part, the Gadaref State Governor Suleiman Ali inspected the border area after the attack and expressed his government’s full support for the army’s efforts to regain control of the national territory.
"We will not give up an inch of the homeland, and we will restore state authority over all our international borders," said Ali. He added that "the squandering of Sudanese lands was a result of the weakness of the state and the political decision during the era of the former regime".
The governor announced that his government plans to implement development and reconstruction projects on the border strip to consolidate what the army has done and achieve stability in those areas.
