/ 14 June 2000

HORN OF AFRICA WAR INTENSIFIES

ERITREAN officials on Wednesday reported renewed fighting on western and eastern fronts, in the latest round of its two-year-old war with Ethiopia. Eritrea confirmed Ethiopian reports that its forces had retaken the western Eritrean town of Guluj, 250km southwest of Asmara. “The Ethiopians are in Guluj and the fighting is in the Guluj area,” he said, adding that intense artillery bombardments are also taking place along the eastern Assab front. The central Senafe front was calm, he said. Addis Ababa earlier said that fighting on the western front is centred around the town of Tesseney, where the Ethiopian army had intensified its counter-offensive after taking Guluj on June 11.