During a meeting held in the border town of Metema on 5 January 2022, military delegations from Sudan and Ethiopia discussed plans for the re-opening of the Gallabat-Metema border crossing. This border post, vital for trade between the two countries, was closed in July 2021 after the murder of a Sudanese army officer in the Galabat area by an Ethiopian gunmen inside the Sudanese side of the border. Since then, all commercial activities between the two countries through this border post are paralised.