SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Radio Dabanga - Killings by Ethiopian farmers require ‘urgent intervention’ in Sudan

30/10/2020: Radio Dabanga - Killings by Ethiopian farmers require ‘urgent intervention’ in Sudan

 Radio Dabanga report that two eastern Sudanese farmers were killed and two other men abducted from their land in East al-Galabat in al-Gadarif, in an attack by Ethiopian gunmen. In a separate incident in the area, a farmer was shot.

A local told Radio Dabanga that Ethiopian gunmen (called shifta in the region) occupied and cultivated the land in the area, harvested crops in the area and transported them to Ethiopia, before returning to the projects and shooting at Sudanese villagers working on their farms. The shifta allegedly demanded money for the release of two people held hostage.

For decades, Ethiopian farmers have been cultivating crops along al-Gadarif’s border with Ethiopia, under protection from the shifta. Farmers in al-Fashaga and al-Gadarif’s government have demanded the land is returned, with al-Fashaga’s Lands Committee calling for authorities to intervene amid “havoc” caused along the border by the shifta.