Sudan says Ethiopian troops crossed into its territory, in what Khartoum has labeled an act of “aggression”.
The military incursion, which was announced by the Sudanese Foreign Ministry on Sunday, marks the latest flare-up in a long-standing border dispute between Addis and Khartoum.
Describing the reported incursion as an “unfortunate and unacceptable escalation”, the Sudanese Foreign Ministry statement warned of “dangerous repercussions on security and stability in the region”.
On Saturday, Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry said on its Facebook page that its official spokesman, Dina Mufti, had himself “called on the Government of Sudan to stop plundering and displacing Ethiopian citizens, (which) it has started as of November 6”.
The Facebook post also reported Mr. Dina as saying third party mediation was unnecessary once “the Sudanese army evacuates the area that it has forcefully occupied”.
Ethiopia has also accused Sudan of crossing into its territory.
A recent report by Reuters said clashes erupted late last year between Sudanese and Ethiopian forces over Al-Fashqa, an area of fertile land settled by Ethiopian farmers that Sudan says lies on the Sudanese side of a border demarcated at the start of the 20th-century.
Only last month, Khartoum accused Addis Ababa of flying a military aircraft across the border, although the Ethiopians have denied the allegation.
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