More than 700 Sudanese nationals are currently stranded at the Gallabat-Metema border crossing between Sudan and Ethiopia as conflict intensifies in nearby Ethiopian regions, officials in eastern Sudan reported on Monday.
Approximately 400 individuals are trapped in the Metema Yohannes area inside Ethiopia, while 321 remain on the Sudanese side in Gallabat, according to sources who spoke to Sudan Tribune.
The ongoing clashes in Ethiopia’s Amhara region between the national military and the Fano militia have heightened the danger for Sudanese refugees in the area.
The U.N. refugee agency reported on Friday that two Sudanese refugees were killed by cross-border shelling.
There are currently 2,652 Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia, distributed across three camps.
In response, the Gedaref state government has increased its military presence along the border, which remains closed to commercial traffic.
Ethiopia has also bolstered its military reinforcements in the border area, with reports of the army conducting arrests of Fano leaders and their families in Metema, according to military sources.
The conflict in Amhara reignited in early August, shattering a 2020 peace agreement that had ended a two-year war between the federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
