Ethiopia, Eritrea fight over Red Sea port

June 3, 2000
Web posted at: 12:41 p.m. EDT (1641 GMT)

In this story: Neighbors struggle to reach peace War creates humanitarian crisis RELATED STORIES, SITES

ASMARA, Eritrea -- Eritrea and Ethiopia waged war near Eritrea's Red Sea port of Assab on Saturday, with each side accusing the other of refusing to let their two-year border battle die.

VIDEO CNN's Catherine Bond observes the growth of what once was a small dispute into all-out fighting between Ethiopia and Eritrea. (June 3) Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K Reporter Carol Pineau looks at the attacks that are causing many Eritreans to flee their homes. QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K    MESSAGE BOARD   Horn of Africa

Eritrea's Foreign Ministry said Ethiopia had launched a full assault on its defensive forces at the port. Fighting was reported on a front line located 23 miles (37 kilometers) west of Assab.

"Ethiopia's offensive on the Assab front, deep into Eritrean sovereign territory, demonstrates once again that the war it has launched has nothing to do with a border conflict," the ministry said in a statement. "This is purely a war of invasion."

An Ethiopian government spokeswoman, however, said the country was just defending itself from a "provocative" attack started late Friday by two Eritrean battalions at the Bure front, about 28 miles (45 kilometers) southwest of Assab.

"We didn't start the fighting," spokeswoman Selome Taddesse said Saturday in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. "All our military is doing is defending our positions."

Casualty reports were not immediately available.

Eritreans are fleeing deeper into the country for safety and shelter

Neighbors struggle to reach peace

Peace talks began last week between the Horn of Africa neighbors but there has been no major breakthrough. The Organization of African Unity is mediating the talks in Algiers, Algeria.

The two impoverished nations have been battling since May 1998 over who controls what land along their 620-mile (1,000-kilometer) border. Fighting has been intense for the past three weeks.

An Ethiopian offensive launched last month into Eritrea has forced tens of thousands of civilians to flee to the capital of Asmara and neighboring Sudan.

On Wednesday, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi declared the war over and said his country had retaken all disputed land.

Many Eritreans spend days on the road carrying only a few of their possessions

Fighting has continued, however, with Eritrea insisting there can be no cease-fire until Ethiopia pulls out of all the territory it now occupies.

Assab, the object of Saturday's attacks, is a key port for Eritrea. Ethiopia once relied on Assab for its trade with the outside world, but it stopped using the port soon after the start of the border war.

War creates humanitarian crisis

People on both sides of the arid, mountainous border are paying a heavy price for the war.

Military analysts have estimated more than 120,000 people have been killed in the fighting. Eritrea, a former province of Ethiopia, won its independence after a referendum in 1993.

Apartment buildings that were once occupied by Eritreans are now destroyed by the fighting

Besides the war, Eritreans must contend with a prolonged drought. Fearful of the Ethiopian advance, thousands of Eritreans are moving deeper into the country, carrying few possessions and spending days on the road in search of shelter.

The United Nations' World Food Program estimates about 300,000 Eritreans need emergency food and supplies. Eritrea's population is about 3.9 million.

U.N. food officials plan this weekend to airlift 40,000 tons of food to the Kassala state in eastern Sudan to feed 50,000 Eritrean refugees.

"In addition, the WFP is making contingency plans to assist a further 50,000 Eritreans who, according to aid sources on the ground, could be on the move to the Sudanese border," WFP spokeswoman Lindsey Davies said.

Correspondent Tim Lister, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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