Six Sudanese soldiers killed in Ethiopian attack - Sudan military

President of the Sudanese Transitional Council, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (R), attends an army exercise on the outskirts of Khartoum on October 30, 2019. (AFP)

Six Sudanese soldiers were killed on Saturday in an attack by Ethiopian forces on a Sudanese army post near the border between the countries, Sudanese military sources told Reuters.

 

Sudan's army said in an earlier statement on Facebook that "groups of the Ethiopian army and militias attacked its forces in Al-Fashaga Al-sughra, which resulted in deaths ... our forces valiantly repelled the attack and inflicted heavy losses in lives and equipment on the attackers."

 

The army statement did not provide any details about the death toll.

 

Ethiopian government spokesperson Legesse Tulu did not immediately respond to a Reuters message seeking comment on the incident.

 

Al-Fashaqa is a border zone long cultivated by Ethiopian farmers but claimed by Sudan.

 

Sudan's military said on Sept.26, it had repelled an attempted incursion by Ethiopianforces in the border area between the two countries.

 

The head of Sudan's military, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, told reporters the incident took place on Sept. 25.

 

Tensions along the border between Sudan and Ethiopia have escalated since the outbreak of a conflict in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region last year that sent tens of thousands of refugees into eastern Sudan.