Sudan PM meets Ethiopian leader as forces continue to battle over contested territories

Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok met his Ethiopian counterpart Abiy Ahmad on December 20 as Sudan’s forces continued their crackdown on Ethiopian militias along country’s shared border. The meeting took place in the African nation of Djibouti on the sidelines of a regional summit scheduled for later. Both the leaders are scheduled to meet again on December 22 for border-related talks.

This comes just days after a cross border assault by Ethiopian forces and militias on Sudanese troops killed at least four Sudanese troops and wounded a dozen others in the Abu Tyour area in eastern Sudan's al-Qadarif province. As per a state-run news agency Suna, Sudan has deployed troops in the contested border area of al-Fashqa to reclaim the land controlled by Ethiopian farmers and militias.

Another area, where a battle between the two nations is Tigray, controlled by Ethiopia. The Tigray fighting has sent over 52,000 Ethiopian refugees into Sudan, mostly into the al-Qadarif province. At the start of the clashes in Tigray, Sudan deployed more than 6,000 troops to its border with Ethiopia.

Read: Sudan: Ethiopian Forces Killed Troops In Cross-border Attack

Sudan’s transitional government has engaged in talks with Ethiopia in recent months to encourage Ethiopian farmers to withdraw from Sudan’s al-Fashqa border area, which they have cultivated for years. The government of former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir had tolerated the incursion of Ethiopian farmers, who were sometimes supported by militias.

Read: Ethiopia Refugees Describe Hardships In Sudan

Read: Sudan: Ethiopian Forces Killed Troops In Cross-border Attack

Sudan removed from terrorist list

In other development, the United States on December 14 officially excluded Sudan from the country's list of terror sponsors. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that Sudan's designation as "State Sponsor of Terrorism" has been revoked, marking a new beginning of the bilateral relationship between Washington and Khartoum. Sudan was added to the list in 1993 and has been removed after a 45-day Congressional review following US President Donald Trump's announcement that the country would be removed from the list.

The move to remove Sudan from the list is also believed to have come after Khartoum agreed to establish formal relations with Israel. The Trump administration has been trying hard to broker peace between several Islamic countries and Israel, and on some part, it has been successful. The US government recently brokered peace between Israel-UAE and Bahrain and is reportedly in talks with Saudi Arabia and Qatar regarding the same.

Read: Sudan’s PM Meets Ethiopian Leader After Cross-border Attack