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Sudan's General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan issues an ultimatum to Ethiopia amid rising border tensions

 

Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan during a visit near Ethiopian and Sudanese border (Picture: Sudan News Agency)

Addis Ababa, January 14, 2021 - General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, who heads the Sovereign Council of Sudan - a military and civilian entity established in August 2019 following the overthrow of Omar al-Bashir, visited the country's border area with Ethiopia in Al Qadarif state on Wednesday, January 13, 2021, after Khartoum said an Ethiopian military aircraft had crossed the border, escalating tensions between two African countries.

Sudan’s Civil Aviation Authority, at the order of the Ministry of Defense, also banned flights in the airspace of Al Qadarif state citing security concerns.

However, on his visit to the Al-Qadarif state General Al-Burhan's speech showed how determined the Sudanese army is to continue expansion into Ethiopian territories.
 
"We have been patient a longtime. For 25 years, we have been patient, and quiet, and enduring the harm and threats. Everyone has tried to threaten us and intimidate us and say bad things against us and against our country. But there is a limit for everything," Al-Burhan said during his visit.

 
Ethiopia, on the other hand, have demanded that Sudan stick to the 1972 agreement and peacefully resolve the border crisis. The 1972 agreement envisaged to solve the border crisis inherited from the colonial era. Both countries agreed to continue border demarcation south of the Dagliesh Mountain. Ethiopia is demanding that Sudan have even accepted this and submitted a letter of acceptance to then Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the United Nations (UN). 
 
Dina Mufti, Spokesperson of Ethiopia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said Sudan's current actions are unprecedented and neglects the wishes of both Ethiopians and Sudanese people. 
 
"You don't always hit back the person who hit you on the nose. If you are patient, you might get an opportunity to cut of his head next time".
- Dina Mufti, Spokesperson of Ethiopia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
 
Dina Mufti - Spokesperson for Ethiopia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Picture: Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Responding to questions whether Ethiopia will respond to Sudan's expansion into Ethiopia's territory during a weekly presser, January 12, 2021, Dina Mufti replied "You don't always hit back the person who hit you on the nose. If you are patient, you might get an opportunity to cut of his head next time".


Sudan's expansion into Ethiopia's territories comes when Ethiopia's federal government moved its armies to dismantle the Marxist-Leninist Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) rebel group into its northern Tigray region.

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