Sudan’s armed forces have fired heavy artillery during fighting in a disputed eastern region bordering Ethiopia, an Ethiopian official said, the latest salvo in a long-running feud over their common border.
According to a Sudanese military source who requested anonymity, Sudan was able to capture Jabal Kala al-Laban, an area near the disputed border, on Tuesday after artillery fire and an airstrike.
Ethiopia on Monday denied Sudan’s charge that its army had captured and executed seven Sudanese soldiers and a civilian, instead blaming a local militia for the killings.
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Sudanese government sources said Sudan had made a formal complaint to the United Nations Security Council about the killings.
The Sudanese army fired long-range artillery from Monday morning to Tuesday afternoon, but no one was injured, said Assefa Ashege, a senior security official in Ethiopia’s Amhara region.
Two local residents said the Sudanese army had taken control of Jabal Kala al-Laban and destroyed a military base there. It was unclear whether the base belonged to the Ethiopian army or an allied militia.
A Sudanese military spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. Ethiopian government spokesman Legesse Tulu did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Ethiopian military officials referred Reuters to a statement released Monday that described a previous border dispute, but did not comment on the reported shelling.
In a statement, the Sudanese army disputes reports of movements and the taking of prisoners.
The feud over al-Fashqa, which lies within Sudan’s international borders but has been settled by Ethiopian farmers for decades, has escalated in recent years alongside a diplomatic row over Ethiopia’s construction of a hydroelectric dam.
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