At least 1000 rebels of Ethiopia’s Tigray People’s Democratic Movement (TPDM) have crossed the border to Sudan and surrendered to the Sudanese army on the border with Eritrea, security sources in Khartoum said on Monday.The sources said they could confirm that the dissident Ethiopian General Mola Asgedom with his band of fighters had fled to Sudan on Friday evening after clashes with the Eritrean army.
General Asgedom heads the TPDM which is based in Eritrea but has been fighting the government of Ethiopia for the independence of Tigray, an area also claimed by Asmara.
He had arrived at the Sudanese town of Hamdait at the border triangle between Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan after escaping armed clashes with the Eritrean army at the outskirts of the city of Omhajer on Friday morning.
Seven of the Ethiopian opposition forces were killed during the pursuit by Eritrean troops to its western border with Ethiopia and Sudan, the sources said.
Witnesses in the border areas said they heard heavy barrage of gunfire during the clashes, and claimed the entry of Ethiopian opposition forces to Hamdait caused a state of confusion and panic among the population.
A pro-Ethiopian opposition TV confirmed that Asgedom turned himself in to the Sudanese military but stopped short of giving further details.
The Eritrea-based Ethiopian opposition coalition considers TPDM as the military wing while the Ginbot 7 of Berhanu Nega is its political front.
Ethiopian and Eritrea regularly trade accusations of supporting each other’s rebel groups since the bloody war between the two countries between 1998 and 2000 over a border dispute.
The Eritrean government has not reacted to the reports
Source: http://en.starafrica.com/
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