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Ethiopians Flee Escalating Conflict to Sudan

In this Sept. 9, 2020 file photo, a member of Tigray Special Forces casts his vote in a local election in the regional capital Mekelle, in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. Ethiopia's prime minister on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020 ordered the military to confront the Tigray regional government after he said it attacked a military base overnight, citing months of "provocation and incitement" and declaring that "the last red line has been crossed." (AP Photo, File)
In this Sept. 9, 2020 file photo, a member of Tigray Special Forces casts his vote in a local election in the regional capital Mekelle, in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. Ethiopia's prime minister on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020 ordered the military to confront the Tigray regional government after he said it attacked a military base overnight, citing months of "provocation and incitement" and declaring that "the last red line has been crossed." (AP Photo, File)
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Ethiopians Flee Escalating Conflict to Sudan

In this Sept. 9, 2020 file photo, a member of Tigray Special Forces casts his vote in a local election in the regional capital Mekelle, in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. Ethiopia's prime minister on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020 ordered the military to confront the Tigray regional government after he said it attacked a military base overnight, citing months of "provocation and incitement" and declaring that "the last red line has been crossed." (AP Photo, File)
In this Sept. 9, 2020 file photo, a member of Tigray Special Forces casts his vote in a local election in the regional capital Mekelle, in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. Ethiopia's prime minister on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020 ordered the military to confront the Tigray regional government after he said it attacked a military base overnight, citing months of "provocation and incitement" and declaring that "the last red line has been crossed." (AP Photo, File)

Several Ethiopians, including army soldiers, fled the escalating conflict in the restive Tigray region to neighboring Sudan on Monday, Sudanese state media and residents said.

The flare-up in the northern region bordering Eritrea and Sudan has killed hundreds of people, Ethiopian sources on the government side said, even as the prime minister sought on Monday to reassure the world his nation was not sliding into civil war.

The worsening conflict threatens to destabilize Africa’s second most populous nation, where ethnic conflict has already killed hundreds since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took over in 2018.

Four Ethiopian families alongside 30 armed federal army soldiers crossed the border to Sudan’s Al-Luqdi area in the eastern al-Qadarif state on Monday, Sudanese state news agency SUNA reported citing witnesses, adding that the soldiers belong to Amhara tribes.

Large numbers of other fleeing Ethiopians crossed the border to rural areas in al Fashqa region in al-Qadarif state, the agency added.

Local officials in the region are working with the Sudanese Commission of Refugees to prepare a camp to host the fleeing Ethiopian refugees, it said.

Residents living in Sudanese border areas confirmed the report to Reuters.

The local government in al-Qadarif state began closing its border with the Ethiopian regions of Tigray and Amhara on Thursday evening until further notice, in response to the conflict.

Sudan’s Security and Defence Council discussed the developments in Ethiopian on Monday and called all parties to seek a peaceful solution to the conflict, SUNA said.

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Taiwan Demonstrates Sea Defenses against Potential Chinese Attack as Tensions Rise with Beijing

A Taiwan navy Tuo Chiang-class corvette(rear) and Kuang Hua VI-class missile boat (front) maneuver during a drill in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 09 January 2025. EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO
A Taiwan navy Tuo Chiang-class corvette(rear) and Kuang Hua VI-class missile boat (front) maneuver during a drill in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 09 January 2025. EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO
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Taiwan Demonstrates Sea Defenses against Potential Chinese Attack as Tensions Rise with Beijing

A Taiwan navy Tuo Chiang-class corvette(rear) and Kuang Hua VI-class missile boat (front) maneuver during a drill in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 09 January 2025. EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO
A Taiwan navy Tuo Chiang-class corvette(rear) and Kuang Hua VI-class missile boat (front) maneuver during a drill in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 09 January 2025. EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO

Taiwan on Thursday demonstrated its sea defenses against a potential Chinese attack as tensions rise with Beijing, part of a multitiered strategy to deter an invasion from the mainland.
The island’s navy highlighted its Kuang Hua VI fast attack missile boats and Tuo Chiang-class corvettes in waters near Taiwan’s largest port of Kaohsiung, a major hub for international trade considered key to resupplying Chinese forces should they establish a beachhead on the island.
The Kuang Hua VI boats, with a crew of 19, carry indigenously developed Hsiung Feng II anti-ship missiles and displayed their ability to take to the sea in an emergency to intercept enemy ships about to cross the 44-kilometer (24-nautical mile) limit of Taiwan’s contiguous zone, within which governments are permitted to take defensive action.
China routinely sends ships and planes to challenge Taiwan’s willingness and ability to counter intruders, prompting Taiwan to scramble jets, activate missile systems and dispatch warships. Taiwan demanded on Wednesday that China end its ongoing military activity in nearby waters, which it said is undermining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and disrupting international shipping and trade.
Mountainous Taiwan's strategy is to counter the much larger Chinese military with a relatively flexible defense that can prevent Chinese troops from crossing the strait. Landing sites are few on Taiwan's west coast facing China, forcing Beijing to focus on the east coast.
Hsiao Shun-ming, captain of a Tuo Chiang-class corvette, said his ship’s relatively small size still allows it to “deliver a formidable competitive power” against larger Chinese ships. The Tuo Chiang has a catamaran design and boasts high speeds and considerable stealth ability.
Taiwan has in recent years reinvigorated its domestic defense industry, although it still relies heavily on US technology such as upgraded fighter jets, missiles, tanks and detection equipment. US law requires it to consider threats to the island as matters of “grave concern,” and American and allied forces are expected to be a major factor in any conflict.
Thursday's exercise “demonstrates the effectiveness of asymmetric warfare, and Taiwan’s commitment to defense self-reliance,” said Chen Ming-feng, rear admiral and commander of the navy’s 192 Fleet specializing in mine detection. “We are always ready to respond quickly and can handle any kind of maritime situation.”
China's authoritarian one-party Communist government has refused almost all communication with Taiwan's pro-independence governments since 2016, and some in Washington and elsewhere say Beijing is growing closer to taking military action.
China considers Taiwan a part of its territory, to be brought under its control by force if necessary, while most Taiwanese favor their de facto independence and democratic status.