AU Calls For Dialogue In Settlement Of Ethiopia-Sudan Border Conflict

The African Union (AU) has called for calm on the sides of Ethiopia and Sudan over their common border dispute.

This comes after Ethiopia killed seven Sudanese troops and a civilian in connection to the longstanding border dispute on Sunday, June 26, 2022.

Sudan accused the Ethiopian military of displaying the bodies of the executed Sudanese troops to the public, however, in a counter-statement, Ethiopia said their deaths were a result of a skirmish between Sudanese soldiers who staged an incursion into Ethiopian land and a local militia.

In reaction to this in a statement, the chairperson of the AU Commission, H. E. Moussa FaKi Mahamat expressed concern about the escalating tensions between the two neighbours.

He called for the use of dialogue rather than military action in the settlement of the dispute.

“The Chairperson notes that the recent border skirmishes should not scuttle the diplomatic solutions being sought to resolve ongoing internal challenges in the two Member states.

“In this regard, the chairperson urges the parties to continue to contribute to a peaceful resolution of the border dispute under the auspices of the AU Border Program”.

The dispute between Ethiopia and Sudan is a result of a border dispute over the large track of agricultural land in the al-Fashaqa area which Sudan claims citing an agreement that demarcated the boundary between their territories in the early 1900s, plus Ethiopia’s construction of a giant hydropower dam on the Blue Nile, aggravating the dispute over the border.

Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini