AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Sudan and Ethiopia have signed an agreement to deploy joint forces along their border to prevent weapons smuggling and sporadic skirmishes between armed groups. The setting up of the force comes after a series of high-level talks.
Security officers from both countries regularly complain about weapons smuggling and cross-border crimes in the region. Khartoum and Addis Ababa share close diplomatic ties, but issues regarding some border areas have been a source of tension.
Sudanese farmers often accuse their Ethiopian counterparts of occupying vast agricultural lands in some areas along the Sudanese border state of Gadaref. The Sudanese farmers also allege that Ethiopian rebels are involved in cross-border crimes inside Sudan.
Ethiopian media, meanwhile, claim that on several occasions weapons smuggled from Sudan into Ethiopia have been caught by security forces.