Sudan has summoned the Ethiopian embassy’s chargé d’affaires over a border attack by suspected Ethiopian rebel fighters that killed and wounded several Sudanese army personnel and civilians, Khartoum said in a statement on Saturday. Thursday’s attack targeted a camp in the eastern city of al-Qadarif, the official SUNA news agency said. A Sudanese military spokesman blamed fighters “supported by Ethiopia” for the attack, according to SUNA. There was no immediate comment from Addis Adaba. Some Ethiopian groups have used farmland in the Sudanese al-Fashqa border region for decades. The former Sudanese government of deposed veteran leader Omar al-Bashir turned a blind eye, but the current transitional authorities in Khartoum are trying to expel the groups. On Friday, Sudan’s army spokesman, Ge...
Ethiopia dam reservoir filling as talks with Egypt, Sudan stall
The reservoir behind the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is filling, its water minister said on Wednesday, a day after talks with Sudan and Egypt on the giant Blue Nile hydroelectric project stalled. Sudan and Egypt both fear the $4 billion dam could lead to water shortages in their own nations. “The construction of the dam and the filling of the water go hand in hand,” Ethiopian Water Minister Seleshi Bekele said in televised comments, a transcript of which was provided to Reuters by his office. “The filling of the dam doesn’t need to wait until the completion of the dam.” The water level had increased from 525 metres to 560 metres, he said. The comments by Seleshi did not address whether Ethiopia had closed the gates of the dam. The area has also seen recent heavy rainfall. “My understan...