Creeping war threatens Sudan's eastern border

Sudan's nine-month-old war has so far largely spared the country's east. But with the frontline inching ever closer, and reports of military training camps across the border in Eritrea, the fragile peace there is in jeopardy.

Sudan's war has already killed thousands, including between 10,000 and 15,000 in a single city in the western Darfur region, according to U.N. experts.

The war pits Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, known as Hemeti, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Analysts have said the RSF is backed by the United Arab Emirates, which denies supporting the paramilitaries who have conquered large swathes of Sudan during fierce battles in central, western and southern regions.

In recent months, the RSF's push into Al-Jazira state, southeast of the embattled capital Khartoum, has given it access to roads leading further east, towards the Ethiopian and Eritrean borders, and beyond to Port Sudan where officials of the government, loyal to the army, have relocated from Khartoum.

The port city is Sudan's lifeline for crucial aid during the war that, according to the United Nations, has uprooted around 7.6 million people and left more than half the population in need of humanitarian assistance.

As the RSF has gained territory, growing numbers of civilians have heeded calls — supported by the army — for "armed popular resistance".

This has raised fears the conflict will escalate between the rival forces, both of whom the United States has accused of war crimes.

Witnesses, speaking on condition of anonymity because of security concerns, said Sudanese fighters were being trained in at least five camps in Eritrea, including three in...