Sudanese President, Omar Al-Bashir, asserted, Thursday, that his country’s forces are ready to repel what he described as the “aggression of the traitors, the conspirators and the insurgents.” Earlier today, the Sudanese presidential assistant, Ibrahim Mahmoud, stated that his country is anticipating security threats from neighbouring countries Egypt and Eritrea following military movements conducted by the two countries in Eritrean Sawa region.
There was no immediate comment from the Egypt. However, Cairo has repeatedly denied the interference in Sudan’s internal affairs. During a televised public speech from Singa, Sennar state (southern east), Al-Bashir announced that “the soldiers are ready to repel anyone lurking.”
During his speech, Al-Bashir called for the revival of what he described as “the virtue of jihad ” and quoted the slogan, “We are ready, ready to protect religion” in reference to slogans that became prominant at the time of his rise to power in 1989.
Khartoum announced last Saturday the closure of the border crossings with Eritrea, and attached the government order with a presidential decree, issued on 30 December, 2017, which provided the declaration of the state of emergency in the state of Kassala for six months amid deteriorating security conditions.
However, Sudanese media outlets attributed the closure of the border, sending military reinforcements and the announcement of the state of “mobilization and alert” in Kassala to what they called Egyptian-Eritrean military forces and Darfuri insurgent movements on the Eritrean side of the border.
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