ERITREA ETHIOPIA WAR SCENES AT TESSENEY

>> YOUR LINK HERE: ___ http://youtube.com/watch?v=FmxloS1TNIw

(6 Jun 2000) English/Nat • • Eritrea claims it has retaken the western town of Tesseney after a day long battle with Ethiopian troops. • • The Eritrean army announced on Tuesday that the south west of the country was now fully liberated. • • It says it has pushed Ethiopian troops 20 kilometres from the border with Sudan. • • Last week Ethiopia had announced it would withdraw from the south west region of Eritrea, but according to the Eritrean army, Ethiopian troops were still in Eritrean territory. • • On Tuesday, after heavy fighting, Eritrea announced that they had recaptured the town and had driven Ethiopian troops back some 20 kilometres from the border with Sudan. • • SOUNDBITE: ( English) • We took Tesseney this morning at 6am. It was very hard fighting but we won at last. • SUPER CAPTION: Eritrean soldier • • Ethiopia and Eritrea have been at war for over 2 years over a 1000 kilometre long stretch of border. • • After a ceasefire lasting several months this year, Ethiopia attacked Eritrea in May, bombing a military airstrip in the capital, Asmara. • • In a 12-hour battle on Monday on the western front, Eritrean forces drove Ethiopian forces from Tesseney 30 kilometres (18 miles) south to Guluj, near the Sudanese border. • • Eritrea says the Ethiopians army destroyed a main bridge leading into Tesseney and 40 million U-S dollars worth of cotton-producing equipment at a plantation 8 kilometres (5 miles) southwest of the city. • • All fronts were reported to be quiet on Tuesday except Bure in the south where there • were low-level artillery exchanges. • • Expulsion and repatriation have been weapons in the war between the two Horn of Africa neighbours. • • Since fighting began, Ethiopia has sent back at least 68-thousand Eritreans. • • And it is reported that thousands of Ethiopians have been rounded up by the Eritrean authorities to await deportation in camps such as this one where facilities are basic. • • Aid agencies say there are many more trapped by fighting. • • SOUNDBITE: (English) • What we are looking at here is basically a humanitarian timebomb. Each day we hear the ticking of the clock because we have to get to these people. But right now it's very difficult because we can't reach a lot of the people. • SUPER CAPTION: Trevor Rowe, World Food Programme, chief of public affairs • • Fear of Ethiopians living here has escalated since Ethiopian forces invaded in May, rekindling an on-again-off-again border war that is believed to have cost • the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians on both sides. • • Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork • Twitter: / ap_archive • Facebook: / aparchives • Instagram: / apnews • • • You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...

#############################

New on site