DATE=4/8/99
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-43058
TITLE=ETHIOPIA/ERITREA FRONT
BYLINE=SCOTT STEARNS
DATELINE=EGRI MEKEL, ERITREA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE HAVE DIED IN THE WAR BETWEEN
ETHIOPIA AND ERITREA -- MOST ALONG THE REMOTE BORDER, FAR FROM
THE PUBLIC EYE. V-O-A'S SCOTT STEARNS IS AT THE FRONT, WHERE THE
ARMIES ARE SEPARATED BY LESS A KILOMETER OF "NO MAN'S" LAND.
TEXT: CLIMB DOWN INTO THE ERITREAN TRENCHES IN EGRI MEKEL, AND
YOU CAN SEE HOW CLOSELY THIS WAR IS BEING FOUGHT. ALL ALONG THE
CENTRAL TSORONA FRONT, THERE ARE BLOWN-UP TANKS, TWISTED ARMORED
PERSONNEL CARRIERS, CHARRED ROCKET LAUNCHERS, THE BODIES OF
HUNDREDS OF ETHIOPIAN SOLDIERS LOST IN LAST MONTH'S ADVANCE
ACROSS THE BALESA RIVER.
SMASHED AUTOMATIC WEAPONS WITH FIXED BAYONET, RIFLE GRENADES,
PILES OF 100-MILLIMETER TANKS ROUNDS ... THE ERITREAN FIELD
COMMANDER HERE SAYS IT'S SOME OF THE HEAVIEST FIGHTING HE'S SEEN.
/// ERITREAN COMMANDER ACT IN TIGRE -- ESTABLISH AND UNDER ///
SOME OF THE TANKS WERE HIT BY ROCKET-PROPELLED GRENADES, HE SAYS.
OTHERS WERE TAKEN OUT IN TANK-TO-TANK COMBAT AT LESS THAN 20
METERS.
//OPT// ETHIOPIAN TANK NUMBER 2-2-3-5-0-9 WAS STOPPED JUST SHORT
OF THE (BORDER) LINE. THE BURNED BODIES OF ITS CREW STILL
INSIDE. TO ITS RIGHT, ANOTHER TANK IS ON THE TRENCH ITSELF --
PART OF THE BLUE-AND-YELLOW DIAMOND MARKING ETHIOPIAN ARMOR,
STILL VISIBLE THROUGH THE ASH. //END OPT//
ETHIOPIAN COMMANDER GHEREZGHIHE AMDE MICHAEL LED TROOPS INTO
BATTLE AT EGRI MEKEL. HE'S NOW A PRISONER OF WAR IN ERITREA.
/// GHEREZGHIHE ACT IN TIGRE -- ESTABLISH AND UNDER///
LIEUTENANT GHEREZGHIHE SAYS HE'S NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT. "I
CAN'T EXPLAIN HOW THIS HAPPENED," HE SAYS. "SO MANY ETHIOPIAN
TROOPS GOING INTO SO MUCH ERITREAN ARTILLERY."
//OPT// FALLING BACK TOWARD THE ETHIOPIAN LINES, HE SAYS
SURVIVORS WERE JUMPING OVER THE BODIES OF DEAD AND WOUNDED
COMRADES -- NO ONE STOPPING TO HELP THOSE STILL ALIVE, BECAUSE
THERE WAS JUST TOO MUCH SHOOTING.
A VETERAN OF THE WAR AGAINST DICTATOR MENGISTU HAILE MARIAM, LT.
GHEREZGHIHE SAYS ETHIOPIANS HAVE NEVER LEFT THEIR WOUNDED TO DIE.
"IT'S UNBELIEVABLE TO DO THAT," HE SAYS. "BUT WE DID. IT'S
SHOCKING." //END OPT//
WHEN THIS FIGHTING STARTED, ETHIOPIA SAID THERE WAS NO
FIGHTING. THEN, WHEN REPORTERS CAME TO THE FRONT AND SAW THE
DEATHS, ETHIOPIA SAID THE WHOLE THING WAS A PUBLIC RELATIONS
DRAMA, STAGED TO BOOST ERITREAN MORALE.
EGRI MEKEL DOES NOT SMELL LIKE A PUBLIC RELATIONS DRAMA. SOME
OF THE DEAD HAVE BEEN BURIED, BUT BARELY. //OPT// ONE BODY HAS A
FEW SPADE-FULS OF DIRT THROWN ON TO COVER HIS HEAD AND CHEST.
FIVE MORE LAY NEARBY, ROTTING IN THE SUN -- ONE WITH HIS CHEST
BLOWN OPEN. THOSE WHO DIED ON THE TRENCHES HAVE BEEN BULLDOZED
UNDER, SPROUTS OF STOCKING FEET STICKING OUT FROM NEWLY-TURNED
SOIL. //END OPT// MOST OF THE ETHIOPIAN DEAD STILL LAY IN THE
MINEFIELD WHERE THEY FELL, ADVANCING ACROSS A DRY PLAIN WITH NO
COVER AGAINST CHINESE 12-POINT-SIX MILLIMETER GUNS, FIRING ROUNDS
AS LONG AS YOUR HAND.
GIVEN THE SCALE OF THE KILLING HERE, WHAT'S STRIKING IS HOW CLOSE
THE ETHIOPIANS CAME TO BREAKING THROUGH. EIGHT TANKS BREACHED
THE WESTERN FLANK, FOLLOWED BY THREE ARMORED PERSONNEL CARRIERS
AND INFANTRY. ERITREAN ARTILLERY STOPPED THEM SHORT OF THE FIRST
COMMAND POST IN THE HAZOMO PLAIN.
//OPT// /// SOUND OF CREW LISTENING TO RADIO -- IN FULL, AND
UNDER ///
AN ERITREAN T-55 TANK CREW LISTENS TO THE RADIO AS THEY CLEAN
THEIR COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT. DUG-IN BEHIND A NETWORK OF
UNDERGROUND BUNKERS, THESE TANKS ARE HARD TO SEE UNTIL YOU'RE
RIGHT ON TOP OF THEM. CANNON WAIST-HIGH TO ADVANCING TROOPS.
//END OPT//
THIS FRONT'S BEEN QUIET SINCE THE FOUR DAYS OF FIGHTING THAT
ERITREA SAYS KILLED 10-THOUSAND ETHIOPIANS -- AND ETHIOPIA SAYS
IT KILLED NINE-THOUSAND ERITREANS.
CONSIDERING RELATIVE FIELD POSITION, EGRI MEKEL WAS NOT A GOOD
THING FOR ETHIOPIA. ERITREA SAYS IT SALVAGED PARTS FROM 20 TANKS
AND IS STILL COLLECTING AMMUNITION.
THE FIRST LINE OF ETHIOPIAN TRENCHES IS LESS THAN A KILOMETER
AWAY ON A LOW HILL, CLEARLY VISIBLE THROUGH SCRUB THORN TREES,
WEST OF THE GERHUSERNAI RIDGE. MORE THAN 100-THOUSAND MEN FACE
EACH OTHER ACROSS THIS ROCKY BORDER. BOTH SIDES HAVE AGREED TO
AN "ORGANIZATION OF AFRICAN UNITY" PLAN TO ARBITRATE THE DISPUTE.
BOTH BLAME THE OTHER FOR CONTINUING THE WAR. (SIGNED)
NEB/SKS/PCF
08-Apr-99 8:53 AM EDT (1253 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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