Thousands of refugees including defecting soldiers from the conflict in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region have fled across the border to neighbouring Sudan, officials said Wednesday.
“We received thousands of Ethiopian refugees, families including women and children, and a number of fighters carrying weapons” Kassala State Secretary, Fateh al-Rahman al-Amin, told dpa.
He confirmed his state and Gedaref state had decided to close their borders because they were worried fighting could spill over.
A source from the Sudanese armed forces, who asked not to be named, said not only civilians, but some 500 fighters from Ethiopia, mainly from its federal army, had fled to Sudan and surrendered.
Al-Sir Khaled Mahmoud, a local official in charge of refugees, told Sudanese state media that the number of refugees in the area now sits at around 6,000.
Earlier, the UN refugee agency said they were working with the Sudanese government to help those arriving.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Ethiopia’s state-affiliated broadcaster reported Ethiopian army claims it has killed 500 members of the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
They also said they had seized a number of weapons including rocket-propelled grenades.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sought earlier this week to reassure the international community regarding military operations in the region, while the army said it was “pounding targets” in airstrikes.
The UN and international community have expressed concern Ethiopia could descend into full-blown civil war after Abiy last week ordered a curfew and sent soldiers in to put down an alleged rebel uprising by the TPLF which is also the region’s ruling party.(dpa)
