/ 14 June 1999

THOUSANDS KILLED IN ERITREA

ERITREAN forces either killed or wounded 12210 Ethiopian soldiers in three days of fighting, the Eritrean news agency ERINA said on Monday. The state-run agency said the period covered Thursday through Saturday. It also said two Eritrean MiG-23 jet fighters had been shot down Sunday. According to Eritrean state television, 2300 Ethiopians were killed and another 4200 wounded in the same fighting on Thursday and Friday in western Eritrea. The two countries are involved in a 13-month border conflict, and neither gives figures for its own military casualties.