Defeated Eritrea’s army and Amhara militias tring to invade Sudan
On Saturday 27 November the Sudanese army rejected an invasion attempt by Eritrea and the Ethiopian Amhara militias after 8 hours of intense fighting. The failed invasion could strengthen the efforts of the Sudanese military leadership and its Egyptian to support TPLF, leading to the decision to openly enter the Ethiopian conflict to break the siege of Tigray.
“Dozens of Sudanese soldiers were killed in fierce clashes with huge invasion forces of Ethiopian militiamen. Reliable military sources confirm the clashes that took place at dawn today (Saturday 27 November 2021 NDT) on the border strip with Ethiopia. Reliable military sources report that several battles took place east of Umm Disa and Barakat Noreen, towards the Ethiopian settlement of Malkamo, which is located within Sudanese territory east of the Atbara River.
Heavy artillery and machine guns were used in the battle from both lawns for 8 hours. The sources added that the battles resulted in the deaths of 21 martyrs in the Sudanese army, including an officer with the rank of major and a first lieutenant, as well as the wounding of 33 others, who were transferred to the hospital of the Blessed God. in Al-Qureisha locality. The sources also reported the fall of large numbers of deaths and injuries among Ethiopian militias, saying they were supported by Eritrean forces. Their number has been estimated at around 6000 fighters. “
This is the news previewed by the Sudanese Arabic-language newspaper Sudan Akhbar خبار السودان (The Great Sudan), picked up by Reuters and Voice of America and confirmed by both the army and the Sudanese government while the respective regimes of Eritrea and Ethiopia have closed in the classic silence that follows their terrorist acts in the region.
Sudanese sources and independent observers report that the attack was carried out by the famous Amhara militias called FANO under the direct control of the Ethiopian Foreign Minister, Demeke Mekonnen, for a week at the temporary helm of the country being Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali who went to the front in the Afar region. A presence witnessed by a propaganda video broadcast by Ethiopian state TV and by a photo of the leader Abiy intent on having his faithful soldiers kiss his hand.
The invasion attempt is part of the Amhara nationalist regime’s plan to annex the Sudanese territories of Al-Fashaqa, a very fertile border area with a strong presence of Amhara peasants who immigrated to Sudan in the 1980s. Al-Fashaqa, together with the territories of Tigray occupied by the Amhara militias since December 2020, is part of the imperial expansion project of the Amhara Region with the aim of creating the “talalgia āmara — ታላቅ አማራ” (the Great Amhara) a state in interior of the Ethiopian state.
“Our forces tasked with ensuring border security in the Al-Fashaqa area have been attacked by Eritrean armed forces groups and Ethiopian militias, who have tried to intimidate the farmers and ruin the harvest season. Sudanese troops have pushed back. the attack and inflicted heavy losses in human life and equipment on the enemy. Unfortunately, the attack left several deaths among the Sudanese forces, “the Sudanese armed forces said in a statement.
Al-Fashaqa, which also borders the troubled Ethiopian region of Tigray, has seen sporadic deadly clashes between the two sides over the years, which escalated last year. Tension escalated after fighting erupted in Tigray in November 2020, which prompted tens of thousands of Tigrinya refugees to flee to Sudan. Since then Khartoum, Asmara and Addis Ababa have been engaged in an undeclared border war inherent in continued territorial violations and atrocious violence against both Sudanese civilians and the Amhara migrant community.
The border dispute is fueling wider tensions in the region, including the controversial Blue Nile Dam in Ethiopia. Sudan, along with Egypt, has been stuck for a decade in a bitter dispute over Ethiopian GERD mega-dam. Both countries downstream, dependent on the river for most of their water, see the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam as an existential threat.
Despite the agreements made with Cairo and Egypt, the Ethiopian fascist regime started the energy production of the GERD dam by activating two turbines. The decision, opposed by the technicians of Salini Costruzioni (a company which was entrusted with the construction of the work in 2011) to activate the electricity production would have been dictated by the need of the Prosperity Party regime to have hard currency to support the crazy expenses in armaments all over. ‘now carried out in the hope of being able to defeat the democratic forces that are fighting for the liberation of the country.
The Sudanese newspaper Alsuwdan Alan — السودان الآن (Sudan Ora), which plays the hard wing of the army behind the coup of 25 October, on its Twitter page encourages the Sudanese government to attack Ethiopia and Eritrea by carrying out air strikes. He also claims that the Sudanese army has a moral obligation to help the Ethiopian democratic forces for defeating the two regimes defined by the newspaper as “terrorists”. “For years the terrorists Isaias Afwerki and Abiy Ahmed Ali have been shedding the blood of innocent Sudanese. It is time to stop them by force as these beasts understand only the language of war, ”says Alsuwadam Alan.
The invasion attempt to annex the Sudanese territories of Al-Fashaqa to the Greater Amhara comes a few days after Abdalla Hamdok’s resettlement to the post of Prime Minister after his arrest during the October 25 coup carried out by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. The Premier in his first public speech after the resumption of functions called on the population to put an end to the protests and the armed forces to avoid any bloodshed.
The agreement between General al-Burhan and Hamdok sparked a wave of anger in the streets. Pro-democracy protesters called it an unacceptable concession to a military oligarchy that has controlled Sudan for 52 years of its 60-year history since UK independence. A compromise that will seriously hamper the people’s efforts to move the country towards democracy.
Hamdok said he agreed to return as prime minister to resume the democratic transition and to stop the bloodshed of Sudanese youth. He also said he wanted to protect economic progress, in a country struggling with a disastrous recession, achieved thanks to the reforms he introduced when he took office. In reality, the Prime Minister is a hostage of the military junta and the technicians who will form the new transitional government will be chosen by General al-Burhan.
The Sudanese military junta is historically hostile to Premier Abiy and the Eritrean dictator Isaias Afwerki. The furious battle that took place on Saturday, in addition to being the most serious and intense border clash that has occurred since last November 2020 (start date of the Ethiopian civil war), endangers the fragile regional situation by increasing the possibility of a war between Sudan, Egypt, Eritrea and Ethiopia. Various military observers point out that it is not possible for the Eritrean regime to assemble 6,000 soldiers in a short time to attack Sudan.
In their opinion, this is yet another clear demonstration that the Eritrean army is still present in Ethiopia, in addition to the territories of northern Tigray occupied by Asmara. About 4 Eritrean divisions are reportedly engaged in the offensive of the fascist Amhara regime currently underway in the Amhara and Afar regions in an attempt to stop the march of democratic forces on the capital Addis Ababa. Eritrean soldiers are said to be fighting in place of the now destroyed Ethiopian Federal Army (ENDF), wearing Ethiopian uniforms. They would be supported by the Amhara and Afarine militias. The actual units of the ENDF would be few and the regime would only be able to offer aerial coverage thanks to the use of MIGs and drones.
Since last June, the Sudanese military junta has been suspected of supplying arms and ammunition to Ethiopian democratic forces, in particular the Tigray Defense Forces, the armed arm of the TPLF political movement that led the country for nearly 30 years. There are also suspicions about the presence of Sudanese mercenaries who would fight alongside the TPLF in Amhara. While Sudanese military support is credible, it cannot be verified with accuracy due to lack of evidence.
Sudanese media reported that today, Sunday 28 November, General al-Burhan sent 20,000 soldiers, several heavy artillery batteries and multiple rocket launchers as well as two armored divisions to the Ethiopian border. Al-Burhan’s intentions are unclear. Strengthen the defense of Sudanese territory or invade Ethiopia?
Alastair Thompson, (@althecat) an international geopolitics expert, points out that this failed military invasion could spark a dangerous escalation within the Ethiopian civil war. “It could strengthen the efforts of the military leadership of Sudan and its Egyptian supporters in favor of the TPLF, leading to the decision to openly enter the Ethiopian conflict to break the siege of Tigray. There has always been a risk of this, you have to keep an eye out for it, ”warns Thompson.
