‘Sudanese soldiers, Ethiopians clash in El Gedaref’

Last Sunday, fighting between Sudanese soldiers and an armed group of Ethiopians erupted in an area near the Sudan-Ethiopia border. Sudanese reinforcements forces moved towards El Gallabat locality without an official statement from the two countries.

The fighting follows the reported death of eight Ethiopians during earlier clashes with the Sudanese Popular Defence Forces (PDF) last September and the torching of houses in Sudan’s El Gallabat area by armed Ethiopians.

Several sources reported that PDF and Ethiopian ‘Shifta’ militiamen clashed in an area called Shangal, on the edge of Kinena locality, northwest of El Gallabat town. At least one Sudanese soldier was reportedly killed.

Abduction in Kassala

An armed gang abducted two women and injured two men in Sudan’s Kassala state on Sunday. The two men accompanied the women in Abu Roaf area, when the gang attempted to abduct them. They opened fire on the two men as they resisted them.

The injured men were taken to Kassala hospital, and the women have been taken to an unknown destination, according to Hamid Idris, a former member of the Legislative Council of the Red Sea state.

He told Radio Dabanga that the abduction is part of a series of similar incidents in the three eastern states (Kassala, Red Sea and El Gedaref) because of an “unprecedented security breakdown”.

In September, armed men from “a neighbouring country” abducted a group of people in Kassala state, Idris told Radio Dabanga at the time. In El Gedaref state, bandits stole a number of agricultural machines and took them to Ethiopia.

“The government fails to perform its duty to protect civilians,” Idris claimed. He stressed that people should take up arms to defend themselves instead.

Last Sunday, fighting between Sudanese soldiers and an armed group of Ethiopians erupted in an area near the Sudan-Ethiopia border. Sudanese reinforcements forces moved towards El Gallabat locality without an official statement from the two countries.

The fighting follows the reported death of eight Ethiopians during earlier clashes with the Sudanese Popular Defence Forces (PDF) last September and the torching of houses in Sudan’s El Gallabat area by armed Ethiopians.

Several sources reported that PDF and Ethiopian ‘Shifta’ militiamen clashed in an area called Shangal, on the edge of Kinena locality, northwest of El Gallabat town. At least one Sudanese soldier was reportedly killed.

Abduction in Kassala

An armed gang abducted two women and injured two men in Sudan’s Kassala state on Sunday. The two men accompanied the women in Abu Roaf area, when the gang attempted to abduct them. They opened fire on the two men as they resisted them.

The injured men were taken to Kassala hospital, and the women have been taken to an unknown destination, according to Hamid Idris, a former member of the Legislative Council of the Red Sea state.

He told Radio Dabanga that the abduction is part of a series of similar incidents in the three eastern states (Kassala, Red Sea and El Gedaref) because of an “unprecedented security breakdown”.

In September, armed men from “a neighbouring country” abducted a group of people in Kassala state, Idris told Radio Dabanga at the time. In El Gedaref state, bandits stole a number of agricultural machines and took them to Ethiopia.

“The government fails to perform its duty to protect civilians,” Idris claimed. He stressed that people should take up arms to defend themselves instead.