Ethiopian militias raid Sudan border villages: farmers, activists

For decades, both Ethiopia and its neighbour Sudan have claimed the fertile border region of Al-Fashaga, and in recent days several villages in the contested area have come under attack.

Farmers told AFP that militias entered villages along the border, opened fire with automatic weapons, and looted livestock and farming equipment before retreating back into Ethiopian territory.

"They attacked us yesterday (Sunday) while we were working in the fields," said a 29-year-old farmer from Wad Kouli, a village about 11 kilometres (seven miles) from the Ethiopian border.

"They surrounded the village, opened fire and stole cattle and tractors at gunpoint," the farmer told AFP by phone, requesting anonymity for fear of retaliation.

Just north, in Wad Aroud, farmers rushed home from their fields at the sound of gunfire, "fearing for our families", said a 32-year-old farmer.

"When we arrived, we found the (fighters) had looted cows and sheep from the village" before fleeing towards the border.

The local resistance committee, one of hundreds of volunteer civilian groups coordinating aid across Sudan, said Monday that three villages across Gedaref state had "witnessed repeated and dangerous violations" by Ethiopian militias.

No casualties were immediately reported from the attacks on Wad Kouli, Wad Aroud and Barakat Nourain.

But the volunteer group said the attacks were "devastating for food security and the livelihoods of people in the region".

Residents told AFP they were now unable to work their fields during the crucial sowing season, which coincides with the rainy season from July to September.

Cross-border clashes are common in the area, with Sudanese villagers often reporting armed incursions coinciding with the agricultural season.

Sudan, battered by a war between army and paramilitary forces since April 2023, has faced the world's largest hunger crisis with nearly 25 million people suffering dire food insecurity.

Gedaref state, where Al-Fashaga is located, is an important breadbasket for resource-rich Sudan, but also home to an estimated million people suffering acute hunger, according to UN figures.

The disputed Al-Fashaga is adjacent to Ethiopia's conflict-ridden Tigray region, where a bloody war between rebels and federal forces since 2020 killed at least 600,000 people.

Over the years, tens of thousands of refugees and farmers from Ethiopia have crossed the porous border into Sudan.

The Sudanese government in 2020 sent forces to secure the area, expelling thousands of farmers and recapturing territory.