War continues between Ethiopia, Eritrea
Ethiopia-Eritrea, Politics, 2/15/1999

Eritrea has announced that "the Ethiopian army has shelled the Burie front (71 kms west of the port of Assab) for a second day. The Ethiopian army began the cross border shelling at about 09:00 hours this morning and continued the attacks until midday. There was, however, no troop movement and the shelling was not accompanied by air strikes," The Eritrean News Agency said today.

It added that "Yesterday Ethiopia began shelling and used helicopters and Antonov bombers to try and dislodge the Eritrean Defense Forces. The Burie front had been quiet until yesterday when Ethiopia launched what seemed to be a major offensive. A statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ArabicNews.com yesterday said "One MI-24 helicopter gunship was shot down by air defense units of the Eritrean Armed Forces and crashed behind Eritrean defense lines. Its pilot, Captain Eshetu Bekele (Military ID No. 216/85), was killed. The other crew members could not be identified."

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the Ethiopian government said on Sunday that the Ethiopian bombardment against Eritrea was in retaliation for shelling started by Eritrea's army on Bourey front, northeast of Addis Ababa.

The spokeswoman, Saloumi Tadisi, told AFP that she does not have information on downing an Ethiopian military helicopter, but later she admitted in another statement that Ethiopia has lost a helicopter on Bourey front on the border with Eritrea.

AFP said a statement by Eritrea's Foreign Ministry said the downed helicopter is of MA 24 type and that all members of its crew were killed.

Previous Stories:
  US citizens leave warring Eritrea and Ethiopia   (2/12/1999)
  Ethiopia, Eritrea reject UN call to maintain control   (2/12/1999)
  Fighting continues between Ethiopia and Eritrea   (2/11/1999)

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