Hundreds of civilians from Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region have fled into neighboring Sudan over the past two days, escaping intensified fighting near the border. Sudanese security and medical sources confirmed the influx of people, which occurs as Sudan continues to grapple with its own ongoing civil war between the national army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, a conflict that began in April 2023.
According to a representative from the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), clashes involving heavy artillery and drones broke out between the Ethiopian army and Tigray rebels in the western Tigray area of Shererina. The hostilities reportedly began early Saturday and persisted until approximately 5:00 am on Sunday. Sudanese security officials stationed in the border town of Hamdayet reported that the arrivals included wounded rebel fighters. Medical personnel at a local border health facility stated that the injured received initial treatment before being moved to al-Hashaba, a location 15 kilometers inside Sudan that already hosts thousands of people displaced by the previous 2020-2022 Tigray war.
Residents living on the Sudanese side of the frontier reported hearing sustained gunfire and multiple explosions throughout the weekend. One witness in the village of Wad al-Hulaywah, located 40 kilometers from the border, described hearing three powerful blasts on Saturday morning, noting that residents of the nearby village of al-Qudaymah had fled across the Setit River to escape the violence. Another witness in Hamdayet reported hearing explosions throughout Saturday and observing aircraft flying south-west of the town.
The TPLF accused the Ethiopian federal government of initiating a large-scale infantry offensive on Saturday, though authorities have not yet addressed the allegation. For months, federal troops and Tigray rebels have been massing along the border, raising significant fears of a renewed conflict less than four years after a devastating war that the African Union estimates resulted in at least 600,000 deaths.
