Ethiopia Attacks Sudan Killing Ten Sudanese Troops

Sudanese Troops - March 3, 2012 (Ebrahim Hamid AFP/Getty Images)

Ethiopia Attacks Sudan Killing Ten Sudanese Troops

By StarAfrica,

Tension is brewing along the Sudan-Ethiopia border after ten Sudanese soldiers were killed in a skirmish with a militia group there on Saturday, the army and witnesses said. Sudanese farmers in Gedaref State told the {African Press Agency }on Sunday that another 13 soldiers were injured in the attack believed to have been carried out by an Ethiopian militia.

Other reports spoke of Sudan’s Paramilitary Popular Defense (PDF) amassing troops near the border with Ethiopia in the wake of the incident, the second in one month.

Sudan and Ethiopia agreed to deploy joint patrols along their common border to prevent the movement of rebels, smugglers and human traffickers.

The Sudanese army confirmed the incident but denied the suspected involvement of Ethiopian regular forces.

Army spokesman Colonel Alswarmy Khalid Saad told APA that the soldiers were killed in clashes with an unidentified Ethiopian group, describing the incident as isolated.

He said clashes between the Sudanese troops and the militias took place on the farmlands in Basonda near the border on Saturday morning.

The gunmen were attempting to control agricultural projects in Basonda, which are owned by the Popular Defence Forces Saad claimed.

According to Saad, the Ethiopian authorities have been notified of the incident.

Sponsored Ads