The Sudanese Army Chief of Staff accuses Ethiopia of exploiting the war to expand and reach the Red Sea

The Chief of Staff of the Sudanese Army, Lieutenant General Yasser Al-Atta, accused Ethiopia of seeking to exploit the war in his country to expand into Sudanese territory and control border areas, and linked Khartoum’s previous accusations of Addis Ababa of supporting the “Rapid Support Forces” with what he described as an Ethiopian plan to reach the Red Sea.

Al-Atta's accusations came at a time when the city of Damazin, the capital of the Blue Nile region bordering Ethiopia, was subjected to a nighttime drone attack that local authorities attributed to "rapid support," amid escalating military confrontations in Qaisan, Kurmuk, and areas near the Ethiopian border.

Al-Atta said in an interview with the Egyptian newspaper Al-Shorouk, on Sunday, that Ethiopia seeks, taking advantage of the war conditions, to control Sudanese lands and regions. He mentioned among them Al-Fashqa, Jabal Halawa, Qaysan, Al-Karmuk, and Al-Damazin, accusing Addis Ababa of supporting “rapid support” and allowing its lands to be used in war-related operations.

He warned that controlling Al-Fashqa and Al-Damazin might, according to him, be part of a broader Ethiopian plan to reach the Red Sea, stressing that Khartoum would not allow it to be implemented.

The Sudanese official's statements come at a time when Ethiopia is intensifying its political and diplomatic moves to obtain a sea port, after it has remained a landlocked country since Eritrea's independence in 1993.

Last February, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed renewed before Parliament his country’s commitment to obtaining access to the Red Sea. He said that Ethiopia, with an estimated population of 130 million people, demands about 50 kilometers of coastline, and he considered access to the sea an issue linked to justice and the historical, geographical and economic rights of his country.

At the same time, Abiy Ahmed stressed that Ethiopia seeks to achieve this through dialogue, negotiation and agreement with the countries of the region and not by using force. During the recent period, Addis Ababa also proposed formulas that include joint investment, economic barter, and port-related arrangements.

The regional controversy over these efforts escalated during the past few days, after the Israeli ambassador to Ethiopia announced his country’s support for Addis Ababa’s efforts to obtain access to the Red Sea, a position that sparked reactions and regional interest in the file.

Al-Atta also accused Ethiopia of allowing the launching of drones from airports within its territory towards Sudan, and said that Khartoum has satellite images and intelligence information proving this, in addition to evidence that he said was extracted from examining drones shot down by the army. It was not possible to independently verify the evidence that Al-Atta spoke about, noting that Ethiopia had previously denied Sudanese accusations of supporting “Rapid Support.”

The statements coincided with a drone attack targeting Damazin, the capital of Blue Nile State, during the early hours of Monday. The Blue Nile regional government said that army defenses responded to the drones, without announcing any casualties, while witnesses reported hearing the sounds of anti-aircraft guns and explosions. One of them said that a drone fell near the city's airport, and communication platforms published pictures of fires they claimed were in Damazin.

The developments come amid escalating fighting in the Blue Nile region, where the Sudanese army is facing the “Rapid Support Forces” and the “Sudan People’s Liberation Movement - North”, led by Abdel Aziz Al-Hilu, and the forces of the former ally of the “Rapid Support Forces”, Abdel Rahman Al-Bishi, who was killed during the war, and all of them are fighting the war within the “Establishment” coalition led by the “Rapid Support Forces”.

The confrontations were concentrated during the recent period in Qaisan, Kurmuk, and areas near the Ethiopian border, while the army sent additional reinforcements to the region in an attempt to stop the advance of its opponents, secure Damazin, and regain the areas it lost.

During the past two days, the Jabal Kadam area, east of Kurmuk and near the Ethiopian border, witnessed violent battles, after which the army announced that it had repulsed an attack by its enemy forces, seized 17 combat vehicles, and destroyed five others. He also announced the downing of a drone that he said had entered the region from the direction of the Ethiopian border.

The Sudanese accusations against Ethiopia did not begin with Al-Atta’s recent statements, as Khartoum had previously accused Addis Ababa of providing military and logistical facilities for “rapid support” and allowing its territory to be used to transport fighters, equipment, and drone operations.

These accusations were strengthened after a Reuters investigation revealed, last February, based on eight sources and satellite images, the establishment of a camp in the Ethiopian province of Benishangul-Gumuz to train thousands of fighters for the “Rapid Support”, in addition to activities related to drones at the Ossa airport. Ethiopia denied providing any support to either party in the Sudanese war.

On the other hand, Addis Ababa accuses Sudan of supporting and arming Ethiopian opposition groups, especially forces from the Tigray region, and says that their presence inside Sudanese territory represents a threat to its security.

Independent research reports indicate the participation of Tigray fighters in the Sudanese war alongside the army, within an armed formation known as “Army 70.” The International Crisis Group said that several thousand members of this army who fled to Sudan during the Tigray war between 2020 and 2022 fought alongside the Sudanese Armed Forces against the “Rapid Support,” and that elements of the group remained present in eastern Sudan.

The German Foundation for International and Security Affairs also stated that the formation linked to the Tigray forces intervened in the Sudanese war alongside the army, and that the presence of its fighters inside Sudan represents one of the sources of security concern for Addis Ababa.

Al-Atta's accusations return the "Al-Fashqa" area to the heart of tension between Sudan and Ethiopia. It is a fertile Sudanese agricultural area, but for decades it has been a subject of dispute due to the presence of Ethiopian farmers there and the dispute over fixing border marks.

The conflict escalated in late 2020, when the Sudanese army redeployed to most of the Fashqa areas coinciding with the outbreak of the Tigray War, and this was followed by a number of armed confrontations between Sudanese and Ethiopian forces.

Al-Atta’s recent statements give the conflict a new dimension, as Sudanese accusations moved from talking about Ethiopia providing military and logistical support for “rapid support” to accusing it of seeking to benefit from the war to redraw the balance of border control and achieve geopolitical interests linked to the Red Sea.

This comes as Addis Ababa increasingly asserts that obtaining a sea port represents a strategic goal, while emphasizing that it seeks to achieve it through peaceful means and negotiation with the countries of the region.