ERITREA: ERITREANS RETURN HOME TO FIND SHOPS LOOTED AS FIGHTING BETWEEN ETHIOPIAN AND ERITREAN FORCES CONTINUES

Record ID: 375798

  • Title: ERITREA: ERITREANS RETURN HOME TO FIND SHOPS LOOTED AS FIGHTING BETWEEN ETHIOPIAN AND ERITREAN FORCES CONTINUES
  • Date: 3rd June 2000
  • Summary: BARENTU, ERITREA (JUNE 3, 2000)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. PAN: SOLDIERS AROUND TOWN 0.10 2. SV: PEOPLE ARRIVING FROM REFUGEE CAMP 0.15 3. VARIOUS: PEOPLE WAITING FOR STUFF TO BE OFFLOADED, PEOPLE WITH BELONGINGS (6 SHOTS) 0.44 4. VARIOUS: WOMAN OPENS SHOP, EVERYTHING LOOTED (4 SHOTS) 1.12 5. CU: SOUNDBITE (Tigre) ROMA SAYING:
  • Embargoed: 18th June 2000 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BARENTU, ERITREA
  • Country: Eritrea
  • Reuters ID: LVAB10AOB4J9232FH1LLJM7SFR31
  • Story Text: Ethiopian and Eritrean forces battled near Eritrea's
    Red Sea port of Assab on Saturday as the war between the two
    Horn of Africa neighbours dragged on despite peace talks.

    The United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP) estimated
    the number of Eritreans displaced by recent fighting could be
    as high as 750,000.

    Eritrea's foreign ministry said Ethiopia launched an
    all-out assault on its positions defending Assab in the early
    hours of Saturday, but the attack was repulsed.

    Fighting raged throughout the morning on the frontline
    about 24 miles (37 km) west of the port, according to Eritrea,
    then died down in the afternoon, partly because of the intense
    heat on the volcanic plateau where the two armies faced one
    another.

    Ethiopia, however, said its forces were simply responding
    to a "provocative" attack from two Eritrean battalions late on
    Friday.

    Ethiopia's army has pushed deep inside Eritrean territory
    in a three-week-old offensive along the length of their
    600-mile (1,000-km) border.

    Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said this week his army had
    won by forcing Eritrea's withdrawal from all the pockets of
    disputed border territory it occupied soon after the war began
    in May 1998.

    But Eritrea says there can be no ceasefire until Ethiopia
    pulls out of all the territory it has now occupied, and
    fighting has continued.

    Peace talks aimed at ending the fighting began this week
    in the Algerian capital Algiers but there have been no major
    advances.

    Ethiopia insists it has no long-term ambitions inside
    Eritrea, a former province that only won its independence in
    1993.It says it is ready to sign a ceasefire deal, but will
    continue to fight if Eritrean forces launch
    counter-offensives.


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