The Sudanese Foreign Ministry has summoned Chad's ambassador to Khartoum, Abdelkarim Kabir, to protest the killing of 18 Sudanese citizens during an attack by Chadian shooters.
Sudan's acting Foreign Minister Ali al-Sadiq conveyed his country's "protest and condemnation of the incident," demanding the Chadian authorities to exert an effort to arrest the assailants and recover the stolen items.
The Sudanese Security and Defense Council held an emergency meeting on Friday and agreed to continue political and diplomatic efforts to contain the situation and prevent any escalation.
For his part, Kabir said that his country would not allow anything to harm the relationship with Sudan, stressing that Chad would spare no effort in maintaining and developing relations with Sudan in a manner that serves security, peace, and stability.
The Sudanese Security and Defense Council stressed the need to apply all official security measures on the border between the two countries, calling for enhancing the capabilities and role of the joint forces and controlling movements between the two countries.
Sudan accused Chad of a cross-border attack earlier this week that killed at least 18 nomads in Sudan's western Darfur region. Several nomads were wounded in the attack, and their livestock was looted and taken to Chad.
The deputy head of the Sovereign Council, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, described the incident as a violation of Sudan's sovereignty and borders, urging citizens not to act alone.
Dagalo attended the funerals of the slain nomads and said that Sudanese citizens had been previously attacked on the Chadian border.
He discussed security and border problems between the two countries with Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby.
Last week, an annual conference was held in Khartoum to evaluate the joint forces, which operate according to a security protocol to secure the shared border, during which Sudan took over the command of the troops.
The head of the Sovereign Council, Lt-Gen Abdulfattah al-Burhan, met in Khartoum last week, Chadian Defense Minister Daoud Yahya, accompanied by several senior Chadian army leaders.
Sudan and Chad share a border that stretches for as long as 1,350 km near the Darfur region.
