The statement came barely 24-hours after Sudan’s Foreign Ministry said it summoned Ethiopia’s diplomat to the country over a cross-border attack allegedly conducted by a militia backed by Ethiopia’s military.
Ethiopian farmers have for years planted crops in Sudan’s al-Fashqa border area but the government of former President Omar al-Bashir had tolerated the incursions.
Sudanese transitional authorities, who took over after the military’s ouster of al-Bashir last year amid months long protests, have recently engaged in talks with Ethiopia to withdraw Ethiopian farmers behind Sudanese borders.
Brig. Amer Mohammed al-Hassan, a spokesman for the Sudanese military, said in the statement that a militia backed by Ethiopia’s military attempted to take water from the Atbara River, setting off a heavy exchange of fire with Sudanese forces guarding the area.
Border tensions between the two countries have heated up recently with repeated attacks targeting Sudanese troops.
