Al-Burhan’s Army and Tigrayan Fighters: Abiy Ahmed’s Remarks Reinforce Allegations of Foreign Combatants in Sudan

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has stated that young men from the Tigray region are being forcibly recruited and sent to fight in the ongoing war in neighboring Sudan.

His remarks are likely to reinforce allegations that the Sudanese Armed Forces are relying on foreign fighters in the country’s conflict. Such accusations have circulated since the outbreak of hostilities with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in mid-April 2023, with both sides repeatedly accusing each other of recruiting non-Sudanese combatants.

“The Most Serious Challenges”

Addressing Ethiopia’s House of People’s Representatives during its 30th regular session, while responding to lawmakers’ questions and comments, Abiy Ahmed said that there are “daily provocations” carried out by forces in the Tigray region.

The Ethiopian Prime Minister described the situation as “one of the most serious challenges currently facing the country,” stating that “young people from Tigray are being forced to go to Sudan to fight in the ongoing civil war there,” according to the Addis Standard newspaper.

He added, “What is even worse is that Tigrayan youth are being forcibly sold into Sudan’s war. These young people are losing their lives in a conflict about which they know nothing.”

The Prime Minister did not specify which party was responsible for recruiting or sending these young men to Sudan. However, his remarks come amid recurring accusations directed at the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), one of the Ethiopian government’s principal opposition movements, which several media reports have linked to the Sudanese Armed Forces.

Previous Allegations Against the Sudanese Army

In October 2024, Rapid Support Forces commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commonly known as Hemedti, accused Sudanese Armed Forces commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan of relying on foreign fighters, including Ethiopians from the Tigray region.

According to the Sudanese news outlet Dabanga, citing testimonies from local residents who shared video footage, Tigrayan fighters are reportedly still present in Al Jazirah State, where they have been accused of committing abuses against civilians.

Other Sudanese media outlets, including Al-Rakoba, previously reported on a video circulated on social media earlier this year showing a senior Sudanese military officer thanking Tigrayan fighters for fighting alongside the Sudanese Armed Forces.

According to the newspaper, the officer featured in the video is Al-Sunni Haidar, a member of the Islamic Movement (the Muslim Brotherhood), who reportedly joined the Al-Baraa Ibn Malik Brigades militia and recruited Tigrayan fighters.

The war in Sudan has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 11 million people, in what the United Nations describes as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis involving hunger and forced displacement.