Press Release
Ethiopia Suffers Heaviest Casualties To Date
SU-27 Jet Fighter and MI-24 Helicopter Gunship Shot Down

Ethiopian forces today suffered their heaviest casualties yet as the TPLF regime continued its naked aggression against Eritrea for the fourth day running.
Detailed figures were not available immediately but Eritrean military commanders on the Mereb-Setit front described the scene as a "massacre." Thousands of Ethiopian troops were killed as they were ordered into human wave attacks against Eritrean positions.

Eritrea also shot down a SU-27 warplane, the first of its kind to be downed by Eritrea. A MI-24 helicopter gunship was also shot down and seven tanks destroyed in today's fighting.

Asked to comment on the status of the continued fighting, an Eritrean military spokesperson said, "The victory that Ethiopia has been boasting about is proving illusory." He described the Ethiopian goal of a quick victory as "mind-boggling, in light of the experience of the past two years, and the fighting of the past four days."

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Asmara, 15 May 2000