ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Victory statements
and accusations continue during talks
Ethiopia and Eritrea are trading accusations
of fighting as talks continue in Algeria. Eritrea accused Ethiopia of launching
attacks on the Assab front, the latest on Wednesday morning. A statement
by the Eritrean Foreign Ministry claimed the attack had been repulsed,
and called the fighting at Assab "a flagrant violation of the OAU
agreement" as Eritrea had withdrawn two weeks ago according to the
requirements of the peace plan. Eritrean is also claiming a "major
defeat" of Ethiopian troops in Tesseney on Monday, and say "most
of the western towns that were occupied in the early days of Ethiopia's
invasion" had been liberated, including Barentu, Haikota, Tesseney,
Guluj and Tokombia. The Ethiopian government said Eritrea had "incited
hostilities" at the Assab/Bure front and that there had been intense
fighting during Tuesday night, but that Ethiopia had "thrashed"
Eritrean troops.
ETHIOPIA: ICRC warns of vulnerable malnourished population in south-east
While international attention is focused on the Ethiopian-Eritrean conflict and the mass displacement in Eritrea, a "generally malnourished population" in south-eastern Ethiopia is increasingly vulnerable to drought, famine, flooding and insecurity, says a report released by the ICRC on Wednesday.
The report says that abundant rains in late April-May presented "new humanitarian challenges" in the fragile Somali Regional National State, washing out roads and bridges and inflicting disease on drought-weakened livestock. Distributions of assistance to several areas "virtually ceased", cutting off needy populations in isolated areas for prolonged periods. The ICRC warns that the late arrival of rains "will almost certainly impact on the potential yield of future harvests" and have serious implications for food security in the coming months. Weather patterns appear to have reverted to the usual dry, arid conditions. There have been no further rains since 11 May in Gode Zone, the logistical hub of the ICRC relief operation. Several thousand drought-affected displaced and destitute people who have flocked to urban centres have been particularly vulnerable to recent extreme weather conditions.
ICRC has undertaken an emergency veterinary programme in Gode Zone because of the impact of torrential rains on severely weakened livestock. Veterinary drugs have been distributed to nomadic herdsmen in co-ordination with the multi-donor South-East Rangelands Project, to treat more than 100,000 cattle, sheep and goats.
"Sensitive political and security constraints in the Somali region" have required effort to maintain good communication with local and regional representatives, and clan elders. ICRC cites "apparently insurmountable problems" at Dire Dawa airport, preventing its use as a point of entry for air cargo, and requiring direct flights to Gode. The cost of two ICRC-chartered Ilyushin 36 aircraft, flying daily into Gode from 29 May, is compounded by political-logistical problems in the region. "Bringing incoming cargo of such quantities into what was essentially a military airport servicing a remote region" required a considerable logistical operation on the ground, said the report. Five additional expatriate staff have been posted to Gode, and warehousing facilities and access roads have been repaired and rehabilitated.
ETHIOPIA: Landmine deaths in Irob
Two children were killed and three others wounded when land mines left by the Eritrean forces exploded in Irob, Tigray, on Tuesday, reported the official Tigray radio station.
Humanitarian sources told IRIN that there was much concern that both countries had mined border areas, and that "it would appear to take some time before people are confident enough to go back to their homes" in areas affected by the conflict.
ETHIOPIA: Pro-government web site focusing on Eritrean opposition parties
Ethiopia is using its pro-government web site Walta Information to publish statements and information from Eritrean opposition parties. Deputy chairman Mengisteab Asmerom of the Eritrean Liberation Front - Revolutionary Council (ELF-RC) is quoted saying Eritreans abroad are now realising "the Issayas regime is highly repressive" and that the time "is not so far away when the people will be freed". The ELF, a predecessor of the Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front (EPLF) during the long independence war now receives support from Ethiopia. The site also carried reports from the Alliance of Eritrean National Forces (AENF), dismissing an allegation by Issayas that the AENF had formed a transitional government in exile with Ethiopian backing. It said that Eritrea had become "a pariah state as a result of the misguided policies of the regime in Asmara". AENF is described on the site as an umbrella organisation of 10 Eritrean opposition parties established on 19 March 1999.
In a report monitored by the BBC on the pro-Ethiopian government site, the Eritrean government is accused of "committing grave injustices on Eritrean Kunamas" and holding Kunama elders "at a torture place called Halewat Sawra". Kunama leader Amanuel Daniel was reported as saying elders Ermyas Gulay, Dule Abshi and Badme Segorwere had been abducted from their homes after the Ethiopian forces withdrew from Barentu. The report also claimed the "Issayas regime" has been "displacing Eritrean Kunamas from various areas like Tole, Kona, Anagola, Kufa Tale and Fode and replacing them by its own men".
Eritrea claims that Ethiopia is supporting opposition groups as a political strategy alongside the declared "military solution". Among the groups are the organisation known as Islamic Jihad - which has changed its name to the Eritrean Islamic Salvation Movement (EISM), replacing "Jihad" with "Salvation".
The recently formed Alliance of the Eritrean National Forces includes some veterans of the fragmented Eritrean politics. Another member of the alliance reported to be sporadically active militarily was the Eritrean Democratic Resistance Movement (Gash-Setit), operating in southwestern Eritrea, drawing support from the Kunama ethnic group.
Eritrean government spokesperson Yemane Gebremeskel told IRIN that "there is no anti-government militia" threatening the present government. He claimed Ethiopia had tried over the last ten months to activate the opposition alliance but "couldn't push it further than paper".
ERITREA: Asmara reports Ethiopian soldiers fleeing into Sudan
Eritrean radio reported on Wednesday that 400 Ethiopian soldiers fleeing from the fighting around Tesseney in western Eritrea had crossed the border into Sudan. There was no independent confirmation of the report. The radio did not say where they had crossed the border or give any details of their present whereabouts. Several hundred Eritrean soldiers were reported to have fled over the border soon after the fighting in the region started on 12 May. These were disarmed by the Sudanese authorities and taken to a separate camp from the thousands of civilian refugees. Meanwhile, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent reported on Wednesday that refugees from the latest fighting were continuing to flow across the border. It said some 2,000 more crossed over on Wednesday. A total of 69,000 had registered with the UNHCR since 12 May.
ERITREA: UNHCR appealing for US $7.5 million for war displaced
The UNHCR said on Wednesday that it was making an initial appeal for US $7.5 million to cover immediate needs in Eritrea, Sudan, Djibouti and Yemen following the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people and a refugee exodus resulting from the fighting with Ethiopia. A statement issued by the UNHCR office in Asmara said it had spent US $300,000 on non-food relief supplies, bought on the local market. The agency was beginning an airlift of 25,000 blankets on Friday from its stocks in Copenhagen. A further 75,000 blankets, purchased from producers in the region, would be airlifted to Asmara next week, along with 25,000 jerry cans and 5,000 units of plastic sheeting. Twelve heavy vehicles, including six water tankers and six tipper trucks, would be airlifted to Asmara next week. The UNHCR had already provided the Eritrean Relief and Refugee Commission (ERREC) with trucks to deliver aid to the displaced.
ERITREA: Medical specialists brought in for facial trauma
MSF is planning to base a plastic surgeon in Keren to deal with facial trauma victims. MSF head of mission in Asmara Tony Parmar said Eritrea had general surgeons but that the government had requested help with specialists, including plastic surgeons and ear, nose and throat specialists. He said the team "would not discriminate" between civilian and military victims. MSF France expects to have a complete surgical team, including an anaesthetist, by the weekend, along with medical teams established by Medecins du Monde , ICRC and the Italian Cooperation.
Meanwhile, humanitarian sources told IRIN that aid workers visiting Barentu over the weekend had reported the town empty of civilians. The Eritrean authorities are in the process of de-mining the area, said the source. The movements of the displaced are still very fluid, with the three main established camps receiving new arrivals every day, but with some people leaving the camps to try and return to "liberated" villages. Humanitarian sources told IRIN that because many of the displaced remained unaccounted for and were known to be in areas difficult to access, international agencies were "playing a waiting game" to see how many would ultimately need assistance. The Eritrean government claims some three quarters of a million people are displaced as a result of the conflict.
SOMALILAND: Investigation results awaited over murder of aid worker
The Somalia Aid Coordination Body (SACB) expressed its "deepest regret" over the death of project manager Peter Krasemann of German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) in Somaliland on Tuesday. SACB comprises donors, UN agencies and NGOs working in Somalia, and works in concert regarding security issues - particularly kidnappings and killings of aid workers - in Somalia. GTZ and the German embassy requested that the Executive Committee meet on Wednesday to discuss the incident, which was the first killing of a foreign aid worker in Somaliland.
A statement released by the SACB said Krasemann was stabbed while sitting in his car in Burao, and died almost instantly. His assailant was immediately arrested and an investigation was underway by the Somaliland authorities. The SACB said it was waiting for the outcome of the investigation before deciding what action to take. Peter Krasemann "had earned a reputation for his enthusiasm, commitment and dedication, even in the short time he had been working in Somaliland", said the statement.
SOMALIA: Four people reported killed by man-eating hyenas in Puntland
At least four people have been eaten by hyenas in the Sanaag region of Puntland, the newspaper 'Sahan' claimed on Wednesday. It said one of the victims was a four-year-old boy, who was snatched by the attacking hyenas from his grandmother. The newspaper said these were the first reports of attacks by hyenas on humans in the region. It was believed that the animals had crossed into Somalia from eastern Ethiopia to escape the drought.
[IRIN-CEA: Tel: +254 2 622147 Fax: +254 2 622129 e-mail: irin-cea@ocha.unon.org ]
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