Ethiopian forces have suffered huge casualties during fighting over the weekend, according to a statement from the Eritrean Ministry of Defense. Ethiopia launched a fresh attack on Eritrea on February 23 and used repeated human wave assaults in an attempt to weaken a position on Eritrea's defense lines. Military reports say Eritrea made a decision to withdraw from those positions following the isolated puncture of their lines to preserve their military manpower and hardware. The statement said, "Ethiopia has made this advance at great human and military cost. We have left our position with our forces intact and have taken up new positions."

Responding to Ethiopian claims that it "captured, killed and wounded tens of thousands of enemy personnel," a senior military official said, "they are making these arbitrary claims as they are frantically clearing thousands and thousands of their corpses and other evidence of the massive damage they have sustained. Our forces have suffered minimal casualties and we have not been forced to abandon men or hardware under panic or pressure." The official added, "Ethiopia knows the cost at which it has gained some ground. They deployed six divisions, two of which were completely routed in the process. They are obviously prepared to sacrifice their men for what can only be short term gain, but they have not changed the military balance at all. That is what is important. Territory can change hands."

The official pointed out that Ethiopia had depended heavily on foreign mercenaries who had been responsible for tens of civilian deaths in the past three weeks. "The Ethiopian government is prepared to use its people as cannon fodder and ready to employ foreign mercenaries as part of a 'no-expense-spared' plan to make good on threats. This is not sustainable for them." A leading Moscow newspaper has confirmed that Russian General Yakim Yanakov is leading a team of Russian mercenary pilots and anti-aircraft gunners in Ethiopia. General Yakim is also serving as an advisor to Ethiopia's air force commander.

Veronica Rentmeesters
Information Officer
Embassy of Eritrea
1708 New Hampshire Ave NW,
Washington DC 20009, USA
Tel: 202 588 7587
Fax: 202 319 1304 E-mail: eronica@embassyeritrea.org