Ethiopian Military Buildup around Renaissance Dam

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) (DPA)
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) (DPA)
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Ethiopian Military Buildup around Renaissance Dam

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) (DPA)
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) (DPA)

Ethiopia has stepped up army deployment near the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), setting off the alarm on tensions rising between the African state on the one hand and Egypt and Sudan on the other.

For its part, Cairo voiced deep rejection of any unilateral action undertaken by Addis Ababa before the signing of a comprehensive agreement on filling and operating the GERD.

In grave disregard of the need for a tripartite deal with Egypt and Sudan, Ethiopia insists on filling the dam over the upcoming wet season, which will occur over the next few weeks.

This has spurred substantial anxiety within the other two North African states over securing their share from Nile waters. Both Sudan and Egypt are arguing that Ethiopia is arbitrarily choosing to foil decade-old negotiations.

“Ethiopian Air Force reinforcements around the Renaissance Dam are stronger than ever,” said Ethiopian Air Force (EAF) Commander Yilma Merdasa, according to a press release posted by the state-run news agency on Facebook.

“The Air Force is closely guarding the Renaissance Dam and pledges to protect it from any aggression,” Merdasa asserted at an EAF award ceremony that saw a number of badges and military ranks accorded to members of the force.

“Any attempts to destabilize the country and spread chaos internally and externally will not succeed,” he confirmed, pointing out that the army protects national sovereignty and looks forward to fully serving the country by defending the GERD against any aggression.

Also, Merdasa revealed that the EAF possesses a sophisticated and striking power in surveying activities conducted in the airspace above the GERD.

“No aircraft without a permit is allowed to approach this area,” he confirmed.

So far, negotiations between Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan have failed to reach a consensus over the dam.

Egypt has not officially announced its intention to launch a military strike on the GERD, but a war of words was unleashed between the three countries. On social media, many Egyptians are calling for a military intervention to dissuade Ethiopia from its plan.



Evidence of Ongoing 'Crimes Against Humanity' in Darfur, Says ICC Deputy Prosecutor

A boy sits atop a hill overlooking a refugee camp near the Chad-Sudan border, November 9, 2023. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig/File Photo
A boy sits atop a hill overlooking a refugee camp near the Chad-Sudan border, November 9, 2023. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig/File Photo
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Evidence of Ongoing 'Crimes Against Humanity' in Darfur, Says ICC Deputy Prosecutor

A boy sits atop a hill overlooking a refugee camp near the Chad-Sudan border, November 9, 2023. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig/File Photo
A boy sits atop a hill overlooking a refugee camp near the Chad-Sudan border, November 9, 2023. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig/File Photo

There are "reasonable grounds to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity" are being committed in war-ravaged Sudan's western Darfur region, the deputy prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) said.

Outlining her office's probe of the devastating conflict which has raged since 2023, Nazhat Shameem Khan told the UN Security Council that it was "difficult to find appropriate words to describe the depth of suffering in Darfur," AFP reported.

"On the basis of our independent investigations, the position of our office is clear. We have reasonable grounds to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity, have been and are continuing to be committed in Darfur," she said.

The prosecutor's office focused its probe on crimes committed in West Darfur, Khan said, interviewing victims who fled to neighboring Chad.

She detailed an "intolerable" humanitarian situation, with apparent targeting of hospitals and humanitarian convoys, while warning that "famine is escalating" as aid is unable to reach "those in dire need."

"People are being deprived of water and food. Rape and sexual violence are being weaponized," Khan said, adding that abductions for ransom had become "common practice."

"And yet we should not be under any illusion, things can still get worse."

The Security Council referred the situation in Darfur to the ICC in 2005, with some 300,000 people killed during conflict in the region in the 2000s.

In 2023, the ICC opened a fresh probe into war crimes in Darfur after a new conflict erupted between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The RSF's predecessor, the Janjaweed militia, was accused of genocide two decades ago in the vast western region.

ICC judges are expected to deliver their first decision on crimes committed in Darfur two decades ago in the case of Ali Mohamed Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, known as Ali Kosheib, after the trial ended in 2024.

"I wish to be clear to those on the ground in Darfur now, to those who are inflicting unimaginable atrocities on its population -- they may feel a sense of impunity at this moment, as Ali Kosheib may have felt in the past," said Khan.

"But we are working intensively to ensure that the Ali Kosheib trial represents only the first of many in relation to this situation at the International Criminal Court," she added.