By Horn Africa News Staff
Gedaref — Sudanese farmers and activists have accused Ethiopian militias of launching a wave of cross-border raids on agricultural villages in Sudan’s fertile but disputed Al-Fashaga region, further destabilizing a country already gripped by war and the world’s largest hunger crisis.
According to local residents and resistance committees, armed groups from across the border stormed at least three villages in eastern Sudan’s Gedaref state in recent days, stealing livestock and agricultural equipment during the critical sowing season. The attacks have left residents terrified, fields abandoned, and a fragile food supply chain in even greater jeopardy.
“They attacked us yesterday while we were working in the fields,” said a 29-year-old farmer from Wad Kouli, a village just 11 kilometers from the Ethiopian border. Speaking by phone on condition of anonymity, the farmer described how the militias “surrounded the village, opened fire, and stole cattle and tractors at gunpoint before fleeing into Ethiopia.”
In nearby Wad Aroud, farmers described fleeing their fields at the sound of gunfire. “We ran home, fearing for our families,” said a 32-year-old resident. “By the time we arrived, the fighters had already looted our cows and sheep and escaped across the border.”
The attacks, reportedly carried out by Ethiopian militias known for past incursions into the region, were confirmed by the local resistance committee—a network of civilian volunteers that has played a crucial role in distributing aid during Sudan’s ongoing war. The committee said that villages in Wad Kouli, Wad Aroud, and Barakat Nourain had “witnessed repeated and dangerous violations” in recent days.
Though no casualties have been reported, the impact on local livelihoods is profound. With the sowing season in full swing—coinciding with the annual rains from July to September—farmers say they are too afraid to return to their fields. “These attacks are devastating for food security,” the resistance committee warned.
The latest violence highlights the long-running dispute over Al-Fashaga, a fertile border strip claimed by both Sudan and Ethiopia for decades. Clashes in the area frequently erupt during planting and harvest seasons, with Sudanese farmers often caught in the crossfire.
The broader humanitarian implications are dire. Sudan has been plunged into chaos since April 2023, when a brutal conflict erupted between the national army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The war has displaced millions, collapsed infrastructure, and pushed nearly 25 million people into food insecurity, according to United Nations estimates.
Gedaref, once a key breadbasket for the nation, is now home to over one million people suffering acute hunger. The state’s proximity to both the conflict-scarred Tigray region of Ethiopia and the contested Al-Fashaga territory has made it a flashpoint for violence and displacement.
Since 2020, the Ethiopian side of the border has seen its own turmoil, as war between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and Ethiopian federal forces killed an estimated 600,000 people. The instability has sent waves of refugees and armed actors spilling across the porous border into Sudan.
With no resolution in sight to either the territorial dispute or Sudan’s internal conflict, local communities remain caught in a spiral of insecurity. “We just want to farm in peace,” said one farmer. “But every year, the guns return with the rains.”
