Afar rebels foil government offensive

NEWS REPORT
Afar rebels foil government offensive
By Ethiomedia Staff Writer
Nov 19, 2003
AFHARA, Northeastern Ethiopia - Government troops dispatched to destroy Afar rebel-held positions along the Red Sea coast suffered considerable casualties on Saturday night, rebel sources announced today.

"Government troops retreated toward Maichew town, 70 km west of the battle field in Afhara, Koree area of Afar region," ARDUF said.

The Afar Revolutionary Democratic Unity Front (ARDUF), one of the 15 opposition parties which recently formed a united front to oust the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, said the military operation carried out over the weekend in ARDUF-held territory was comprised of Federal Army members and local Afar militias from Asayita town, 50 km west of the Port of Assab.

ARDUF said despite recent overtures by the prime minister to look as an Ethiopian nationalist over the border crisis with Eritrea, Meles Zenawi has never been away from the business of fighting against Ethiopia and defending Eritrean interests.

"When Meles told the media several times that it would be easy to start demarcating the border in the eastern part of Ethiopia," ARDUF said, "his intentions were clear that he would first attempt to eliminate our rebel forces before heading to hand over Badme, Irob, and other undisputed Ethiopian territories the Border Commission ruled in favor of Eritrea's, and hence Meles's."

ARDUF had recently warned foreign workers of the threat of insecurity if they enter Afar territory under the cover of border demarcation. The rebel group has never recognized Eritrea as a sovereign state, and considers the larger part of Eritrea as an annexed Afar territory.

The issue of border demarcation was postponed indefinitely in last month after Meles anticipated his push to hand over Ethiopian territories to Eritrea would backfire and possibly be a cause for his ouster. In spite of the brief hiatus, the Addis and Asmara regimes are scheduled to meet in London today under the auspices of Unmee - the UN peacekeeping force in the region.

The United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF) - a coalition front of 15 Ethiopian opposition parties - has categorically rejected the Algiers Agreement, claiming the agreement was based on dead colonial treaties "exhumed" by two anti-Ethiopian forces in control of state power in Addis Ababa and Asmara.

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NEWS REPORT Afar rebels foil government offensive By Ethiomedia Staff Writer Nov 19, 2003 AFHARA, Northeastern Ethiopia - Government troops dispatched to destroy Afar rebel-held positions along the Red Sea coast suffered considerable casualties on Saturday night, rebel sources announced today.

Afar rebels foil government offensive By Ethiomedia Staff Writer Nov 19, 2003 AFHARA, Northeastern Ethiopia - Government troops dispatched to destroy Afar rebel-held positions along the Red Sea coast suffered considerable casualties on Saturday night, rebel sources announced today.

NEWS REPORT
Afar rebels foil government offensive
By Ethiomedia Staff Writer
Nov 19, 2003
AFHARA, Northeastern Ethiopia - Government troops dispatched to destroy Afar rebel-held positions along the Red Sea coast suffered considerable casualties on Saturday night, rebel sources announced today.

Afar rebels foil government offensive
By Ethiomedia Staff Writer
Nov 19, 2003
AFHARA, Northeastern Ethiopia - Government troops dispatched to destroy Afar rebel-held positions along the Red Sea coast suffered considerable casualties on Saturday night, rebel sources announced today.