Gen Birhanu Jula said there was no reason to attack Sudan and that the country was "not in a position" to carry out such attacks as it was fighting the rebels from the northern Tigray region.

The two countries have been having a border dispute and ongoing disagreements over the shared waters of the Nile River.

The army chief said he hoped the issues could be resolved peacefully through dialogue.

Sudanese media had claimed that Ethiopian forces killed dozens of Sudanese soldiers in the disputed al-Fashaga border area, where the north-west of Ethiopia's Amhara region meets Sudan's breadbasket Gedaref state.