Ethiopia Tells a UN Envoy on November 11 That Eritrea and Sudan's Army Chief Are Arming Groups Inside Ethiopia: The G7 Paris Declaration the Same Day Warns the Ethiopia Eritrea Standoff Risks Regional Escalation
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Getachew Reda, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's adviser on East African affairs, said on Wednesday, November 11, that he had told Guang Cong, the UN Secretary General's Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, that Eritrea's President Isaias Afwerki and Sudan's army chief, General Abdel Fattah al Burhan, were arming groups inside Ethiopia and carrying out repeated drone attacks in the country, Addis Standard reported. Getachew disclosed the accusations after the meeting in a post on his official social media account.
Getachew said he had given a detailed explanation of the kinds of activities both leaders have been carrying out to equip, arm and coordinate subversive elements within Ethiopia, including carrying out repeated drone attacks inside Ethiopia. He did not name the groups or give details of the drone attacks. He said he had repeated Ethiopia's position that both leaders must stop supporting and arming those groups.
The same day, the joint declaration issued by the foreign ministers of the Group of Seven and the European Union's High Representative after their November 9 and 10 meeting in Paris warned that the worsening security situation between Ethiopia and Eritrea bears the risk of regional escalation, urged maximum restraint, and backed United Nations and African Union efforts to open dialogue. The declaration also flagged the risk to trade in the Red Sea and, on the war in Sudan, called on all external actors to cease supplying or facilitating armed, logistical and financial support to the belligerents.
Khartoum and Addis Ababa have accused each other of backing armed groups on the other's territory, and both deny the charges. Sudan filed complaints with the UN Security Council and the African Union's Peace and Security Council at the start of November, accusing Ethiopia of letting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces launch drones from its territory. A report from Sudan's army led Transitional Sovereignty Council alleged 70 attacks involving 187 drones between 15 February and 27 October. Ethiopia denies backing the RSF and has in turn accused Sudan and Egypt of supporting armed groups fighting its forces, which both deny. On November 4, Ethiopia ordered six Sudanese diplomatic staff members to leave the country within 48 hours, following the closure of Sudan's consulate in Assosa.
Getachew's allegations have not been independently verified, and neither Asmara nor Khartoum has responded to this round of claims.
Source: Addis Standard
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
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