ESAT News (June 13, 2016)
Eritrea and the Ethiopian regime labeled accusations against each other after what appeared to be a skirmish on the heavily militarized border on Sunday.
Both sides accused the other of launching an attack on the Tsorena front. Details of the skirmish on Sunday is scanty but the spokesperson for the Ethiopian regime, Getachew Reda reportedly told AFP that the forces on both sides have suffered a considerable number of causalities, with more damages sustained by the Eritrean side. His office on Monday released a statement saying the Ethiopian forces “repulsed an attempted attack” and that a “proportional counter attack had been carried out against Eritrean forces.”
News of the skirmishes had first appeared on pro TPLF websites on Sunday morning accusing Eritrea of launching a “full-scale” attack against Ethiopian regime forces on the Tsorena front. The Eritrean Ministry of Information later in the day released a short statement saying the “TPLF regime has unleashed an attack against Eritrea on the Tsorona central front. The purpose and ramifications of this attack are not clear.”
The Eritrean Ministry Information promised to issue further statements on the situation but there hasn’t been any statement at the time of this post.
It is not clear if Sunday’s skirmish would lead to a full scale war but there has been a further boost up in military activities on both sides of the heavily militarized border.
Meanwhile, Patriotic Ginbot 7 Movement for Unity and Democracy said in a statement that by launching an unprovoked attack against Eritrea, the regime in Ethiopia is trying in futility to externalize the simmering opposition it faced by the people of Ethiopia from all corners of the country.
PG7 warned that the people of Ethiopia should not buy into the war rhetoric by the tyrannical minority regime, whose only objective is to extend its stay in power.