DATE=5/18/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ETHIOPIA - ERITREA (L)
NUMBER=2-262509
BYLINE=SCOTT STEARNS
DATELINE=ETHIOPIAN-OCCUPIED ERITREA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Ethiopia says it has captured the strategic
Eritrean town of Barentu, cutting a main Eritrean re-
supply route. V-O-A s Correspondent Scott Stearns
reports from Ethiopian-occupied Eritrea.
TEXT: After days of heavy shelling, Ethiopia says
Barentu has fallen, as Eritrean troops there retreat
north toward the town of Keren. That is because
Ethiopia says it has cut the main road east to the
capital, Asmara, now making it considerably more
difficult for Eritrea to supply its western army.
Ethiopia says it will pursue those retreating troops,
much like it did with Eritreans who withdrew from the
town of Om Hajar near Sudan when Ethiopian air force
jets blasted the Eritrean convoy on the road.
Whatever the next step, it is clear Ethiopia is
continuing its drive into western Eritrea. That drive
has now captured nearly one-hundred kilometers of
territory in less than one week.
Ethiopia has established staging areas and field
hospitals across western Eritrea. With tanks and
heavy artillery continuing to roll toward the front,
the war shows no sign of letting up.
Ethiopia may now use Barentu as a base from which to
expand its offensive east and west, parallel to their
contested border (with Eritrea).
There has been heavy shelling along the central
Tsorona front, but so far no major fighting by
ground troops -- neither the expected Ethiopian
attempts to retake the town of Zalambesa nor a
possible Eritrean counter-attack.
With Barentu as a base, Ethiopia might move on the
central front from the rear, trapping Eritrea's army
or pushing them farther east toward the town of
Mendefera, 50 kilometers from Asmara.
Ethiopia, therefore, says it has already hit military
sites around Mendefera. Jets kept up their bombing
runs into Eritrea (Thursday), with Sukoy-27's flying
patrols along the border. (Signed)
NEB/SKS/JWH/PLM
18-May-2000 06:29 AM EDT (18-May-2000 1029 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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