Chad-West Darfur border re-opens after shooting

The governor of the Chadian Weddai province and the West Darfur governor held talks in Adre to calm the situation after the killing of a Sudanese officer, which caused the border between Sudan and Chad to close.

A Sudanese delegation headed by West Darfur Governor Fadlel Mawla El Haja and Weddai Governor Gen. Mohamed Bashir Akromi met in Adre, near El Geneina, following an incident on 22 August. A Sudanese officer of the Rapid Support Forces was killed and three others sustained injuries during fighting.

The incident in the Adkong border area, West Darfur, has strained the situation on the border between Sudan and Chad and completely closed it, but both sides agreed on re-opening the border.

The parties signed a covenant and a charter for the preservation and protection of the border between the two countries. Governor El Haja said: “The closure of the border with Chad was only meant to calm the security situation.”

He explained that the border closure was imperative “to avoid tribal friction over the killing of the officer”, but both sides decided to re-open the border for commercial convoys and the movement of Chadian and Sudanese citizens.