/ 22 February 1999

ETHIOPIA BOMBS AIRPORT

ETHIOPIAN warplanes on Sunday bombed the airport serving the Eritrean Red Sea port of Assab, Ethiopia’s government spokeswoman said amid conflicting reports of the damage caused. Sources in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, while confirming a raid had taken place, said the 12 bombs dropped by Antonov warplanes fell wide of the airport’s runway. The bombing broke an undeclared truce in the border war between the two Horn of Africa neighbours. The last fighting was reported, in the same sector on Tuesday when both sides reported attacks by Ethiopian fighter-bombers on an Eritrean military logistics centre near Assab.