KHARTOUM: Sudan's premier said Sunday he had agreed with his counterpart in Addis Ababa to hold an urgent meeting of a bloc of east African countries to resolve the crisis in Ethiopia's Tigray region.

Ethiopia did not immediately confirm Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok's announcement of an "emergency" meeting of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development. Hamdok travelled to Addis Ababa on Sunday to discuss the Tigray conflict with his counterpart Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the first foreign leader to visit the Ethiopian capital since fighting broke out in the region on November 4, creating a humanitarian crisis.

"The visit led to fruitful negotiations and it was agreed to hold an emergency IGAD meeting," Hamdok's office said. IGAD was founded in 1996 and brings together the east African nations of Ethiopia, Sudan, Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan and Uganda. Thousands have been killed since the start of the conflict in Tigray, according to the International Crisis Group, and just over 50,000 people have fled to neighbouring Sudan since Abiy ordered troops into the region to confront its dissident ruling party.