Ethiopia reported to be within 100 km of Asmara

The rapid advance by Ethiopian forces into western Eritrea appeared to have halted on Monday, with some Ethiopian troops within 100 km of Asmara. The US embassy began evacuating non-essential staff and other US citizens from the Eritrean capital on Sunday. A chartered aircraft flew the first load of evacuees from Asmara to Germany. Britain has also advised its nationals to leave the country, but the Eritrean presidential spokesman, Yemane Gebremeskel, insisted that the city was not in danger. The focus of the Ethiopian attack appeared to have shifted toward the Sudanese border and in the direction of the key town of Mendefera, south of Asmara, where Eritrean forces were on Monday reported to be digging in to defend the town. An Ethiopian government statement said on Sunday that the Eritrean army had abandoned its main training centre in Sawa, north of Teseney, after repeated bombing raids by the Ethiopian air force and were retreating towards the Sudanese border. Eritrea denied that its forces were retreating, saying that truckloads of troops had been transferred from Sawa to Asmara several days ago.

Ethiopia has repeatedly rejected allegations that it is seeking to annex Eritrean territory. A foreign ministry statement, carried by the official Ethiopian News Agency (ENA), said the primary objective was “to reverse the flagrant aggression and cripple the war machine in Asmara, but not the Eritrean civilian population”. According to the Eritrean authorities, one million people have been displaced by the fighting.