Monday, June 13, 2016

Ethiopia and Eritrea trade blame over border clashes

Ethiopia and Eritrea have traded blame over fresh clashes in a disputed border region that triggered a bloody war in 1998-2000 and killed thousands of civilians.

Ethiopia said the situation was calm around the border town of Zalambessa on Monday, and government spokesman Getachew Reda alleged that Eritrean soldiers had been "promptly repulsed" by Ethiopian troops.

A resident in the Ethiopian town of Zalambessa, across the border from Tsorona, told Reuters news agency by telephone that he had heard the sound of shelling on Sunday and into Monday morning.

Eritrea disputed this account, saying Ethiopia started the fight.

"The TPLF regime has today, Sunday 12 June 2016, unleashed an attack against Eritrea on the Tsorona Central Front," Eritrea's Information Ministry said in a statement.

"The purpose and ramifications of this attack are not clear," it added.

TPLF refers to Ethiopia's Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, one of the four parties making up the ruling coalition.

Eritrea, which won independence from Ethiopia in 1991, fought a bloody border war with its larger neighbour between 1998 and 2000 which killed about 70,000 people.

Both routinely accuse each other of backing rebels trying to destabilise and topple the other's government, a legacy from the earlier war.

Eritrea, which is under UN sanctions, says world powers have failed to push Ethiopia to accept an international arbitration ruling demarcating the boundary. Ethiopia's government has said it wants talks on implementation.
Source: Agencies, aljazeera.com
13/6/16

2 comments:

  1. ’Significant’ Casualties in Eritrea-Ethiopia Clash: Ethiopia ...

    Troops from Ethiopia and arch-rival Eritrea have fought a heavy border battle, the Ethiopian government said Monday, reporting "significant" numbers of casualties, with both sides blaming the other for starting the fight.

    "There were significant casualties on both sides, but more on the Eritrean side," Ethiopian government spokesman Getachew Reda told AFP. He said the battle on Sunday was one of the most serious in recent years, noting that while the two sides had exchanged gun fire in recent years, this clash was on a far larger scale.
    almanar.com.lb

    ReplyDelete
  2. L'Éthiopie met en garde l'Érythrée contre une "guerre totale" ...

    L'Éthiopie a prévenu ce mardi son voisin érythréen, auquel de violents combats l'ont opposée dimanche à leur frontière, que de son "attitude" dépendrait le déclenchement ou non d'une "guerre totale".

    "Nous avons la capacité de mener une guerre totale contre l'Érythrée, mais nous ne voulons pas le faire", a affirmé mardi le porte-parole du gouvernement éthiopien, Getachew Reda, lors d'une conférence de presse à Addis-Abeba.

    "Une guerre dépendra de l'attitude d'Asmara", a-t-il ajouté. "J'espère qu'ils ne répèteront pas l'erreur de nous entraîner dans une guerre ouverte".....rtbf.be
    14/6/16

    ReplyDelete

Only News

Featured Post

US Democratic congresswoman : There is no difference between 'moderate' rebels and al-Qaeda or the ISIS

United States Congresswoman and Democratic Party member Tulsi Gabbard on Wednesday revealed that she held a meeting with Syrian Presiden...

Blog Widget by LinkWithin