Al-Fashaga District

The Al Fushqa or Al Fashaga district (Arabic: الفشقة, Amharic: አል ፋሻጋ) also known as the Al Fashaga triangle is a disputed area between Ethiopia and Sudan, specifically Al Qadarif and Amhara.^[1] The region is a fertile agricultural land and its capital is Showak.^[2][3][4]

Al Fushqa/Al Fashaga
Disputed territory
The Al Fashaga triangle (light green), near the tripoint of the borders of Sudan (blue), Ethiopia (orange), and Eritrea (grey)
Country	Disputed area between:  Sudan  Ethiopia
State	Al Qadarif Al Fushqa District
Region	Amhara

History

Main article: Al-Fashaga conflict

Al Fashaga is located on the Ethiopia–Sudan border, and is claimed by both Sudan and Ethiopia. The region had historically been administered by the Ethiopian Empire. However, in 1902, Emperor Menelik II ceded the region to the British, who incorporated it into Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. Ethiopia never signed a treaty with Sudan over the territory, because the government argued that the region came under Ethiopian control when Sudan was freed in 1956. In the mid 1990s, Ethiopians, mostly from the Amhara people, moved into the Al Fashaga region to begin farming due to the high fertility of the land. Under Egyptian and Ethiopian pressure, the Sudanese Armed Forces withdrew from region in 1995 as well as the Halaib Triangle following an assassination attempt against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Ethiopia. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir was accused of supporting the Egyptian Islamic Jihad group behind the attempt.^[5] Under a compromise reached in 2008,^[2] Ethiopian farmers cultivated the land while Sudan retained administrative control of it. This compromise ended in November 2020, when the Tigray War began and Sudan expelled Ethiopian farmers, resulting in border clashes between the two countries.^[6] On 2 December, the Sudanese Armed Forces occupied the Khor Yabis area, controlled by Ethiopia for 25 years, expelling Ethiopian militants without a fight.^[7] During the 2023 Sudan conflict, the Sudanese government claimed to have repelled an Ethiopian incursion on the Al Fashaga region on 19 April.^[8] The Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, denied any assault ever took place.^[9][10]

References

1. "Districts of Sudan". statoids. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
2. "Viewpoint: Why Ethiopia and Sudan have fallen out over al-Fashaga". BBC. 3 January 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
3. "Sudan and Ethiopia's dispute in fertile border area threatens regional stability". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
4. . 21 August 2013. Archived from the original on 21 August 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
5. "Sudan and Ethiopia's dispute in fertile border area threatens regional stability". Middle East Eye. 2 July 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
6. "Why nerves are jangling on the border between Ethiopia and Sudan". The Economist. 15 July 2021. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
7. "Containing the Volatile Sudan-Ethiopia Border Dispute". Crisis Group. 24 June 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
8. "عاجل (السُّوداني): الجيش يوقف غزواً إثيوبياً على الفشقة الصغرى ويُكبِّدهم خسائر فادحة في الأرواح والعتاد". Al Sudani. 19 April 2023. from the original on 19 April 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023. Ethiopian forces carried out an invasion and attack on Al-Fashqa, reinforced by tanks, armored vehicles, and large crowds of infantry. Immediately, the armed forces units dealt with them with their various long-range fire systems, causing them heavy losses in personnel and equipment
9. "Ethiopian PM denies reports of clashes with Sudan forces". BBC. 20 April 2023. from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
10. "PM Abiy Ahmed warns parties working to incite war between Ethiopia, Sudan, refutes reports of Ethiopian forces incursion into Sudanese border". Addis Standard. 20 April 2023. from the original on 20 April 2023. Retrieved 22 April 2023.