Sudanese Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan waves to his supporters in Omdurman district, west of Khartoum, Sudan, Saturday, June 29, 2019. PHOTO//Hussein Malla/AP

The Chairman of the Sovereign Council of Sudan has renewed his country’s claim over disputed areas along the border with South Sudan and Egypt.

General Abdel Fattah El Burhan pledges to send Sudanese troops to reoccupy contested lands –especially those at the border with South Sudan’s Upper Nile state.

In his public address to Sudanese troops at the Wadi Sayedna military area in Omdurman, El Burhan asserted a claim over the disputed areas.

Sudan and South Sudan have laid claim on areas along their borders.

The claimed and disputed areas include; Abyei, Mile-14 or Kiir Adim, Joudat Al-Fakhar, Jebel al-Migainais, Kaka, and Kafia Kingi.

These areas are reportedly inhabited by more than 10 million people.

Experts from the two countries say these contentious areas are rich with natural resources and with conducive weather for farming and livestock keeping.

The two countries have not been able to address their claim over these areas since South Sudan gained independence in 2011.

In September 2012, a cooperation agreement was signed to include; free movement of persons, residence and commerce across the borders -although not implemented

They also agreed to withdraw troops 10 kilometres away from the border.

“A day will come when the Sudan Armed Forces will raise the flag of Sudan in the greater Fashka, Halayib, Shalaten, Joda and all the disputed areas,” said an excited Gen. Abdel Fattah El Burhan told Sudan Armed Forces on Monday, 24 August, 2020.

“We want to see our army get back those areas so that Sudan can take control of all areas across the country,” he added.

When contacted by Eye Radio, South Sudan’s government spokesperson, Michael Makuei described El Burhan utterance as “political statements, which we cannot just respond.”

“…and that is a different thing also,” Makuei added.

In October last year, South Sudan and Sudan agreed to fully specify joint borders and contested areas.

A Joint Technical Committee for Border Demarcation signed an agreement for the full delimitation of coordinates in the areas agreed upon on the borderline.

The committee developed an Atlas on the maps, provided reference documents which specify known and unexplored borderlines.

In 2012, South Sudan briefly went to war with Sudan over the border, and oil in the contested areas of Panthou known as Heglig and Abyei region.

Several contested areas between the two countries reportedly produce oil and are thought to hold deposits of copper and uranium.