Sudan officially announced the closure if its eastern border with Eritrea following deployment of thousands of Sudanese troops in Kassala state on the border with Eritrea.
The governor of Kasala, Adam Jamma issued a decree to close all border crossings with Eritrea from the night of January 5, attributing the reason to the state of emergency earlier declared in the state, the official SUNA news agency reported.
The decision came hours after Sudanese government denied tension with Eritrea, saying the deployment of troops in Kassala State came within the framework of an emergency order and a decree relating to collecting arms and unlicensed vehicles, besides confronting human trafficking operations and smuggling of arms and commodities, Xinhua reports.
A resident of Kasala told AFP that hundreds of Sudanese soldiers, several military vehicles and tanks had crossed through the town toward the border with Eritrea over the past two days.
Last year December, President Omar al-Bashir issued a decree declaring a state of emergency in North Kordofan state in Western Sudan and Kassala in eastern part of the country.
