Ethiopian troops “inflict damage”

Eritrea this week accused Ethiopian troops of incinerating homes and leaving people without shelter near Kisad Ika, just north of the the disputed border between the two countries, when it began redeploying troops in the region on Monday. In a report which was not independently verified, an Eritrean foreign ministry press statement on Wednesday also said that in the nearby Gash Barka region, at least 101 civilians had been killed, 117 wounded and a further 36 reported missing after Ethiopian troops invaded the area in May and June this year. It reported 50 women had been raped.

“In all areas under occupation, water and electricity power centres have been dynamited and put out of use,” it said. “Bread factories, flour mills, health clinics, pharmacies, schools, large warehouses, cotton, wood and tobacco factories and six bridges were dismantled or razed.”

The foreign ministry said that 25 Eritrean towns and villages had been “methodically demolished to inflict continued damage on the Eritrean infrastructure and its people”. It said the towns included Faulina, Sifra, Ghenet, Dembe Terrer, Atiabir, Mulki, Bushuka, Shambuko, Italla, Guesema, Dembre Himbirti, Tsebra and Barentu, Gogni, Tesseny, Ali Ghidir, Guluj, Tebeldia, Gergef, and Omhajer.