In a statement released by government spokeswoman Selome Taddesse, Ethiopia said it had destroyed six Eritrean tanks and several artillery pieces in six days of fighting on two fronts.

``During the engagement (on the Badme front) more than 4,000 Eritrean soldiers were killed or wounded; two tanks, three BM-21 rocket launchers and a lot of heavy artillery were destroyed,'' the statement said.

On the Tsorona front Eritrean forces sustained 3,000 casualties and lost four tanks, the statement added.

``This is simply a pack of lies,'' state media quoted an Eritrean presidential spokesman as saying.

The Ethiopian government ``cannot simply conjure up stories of victories and expect their soldiers on the front to go for it,'' he said.

The latest fighting erupted on February 6, when the Ethiopian army attempted to storm Eritrean positions fortified since the conflict first broke out last May.

Ethiopia says it has gained important Eritrean positions in the fighting, at Gazagerehlase on the Badme front and at Konito and Konin on the Tsorona front further east.

There was no independent confirmation of the figures or of earlier claims by Eritrea it had killed at least 1,500 Ethiopian soldiers.

Journalists who visited parts of the Eritrean side of both front lines said Ethiopia had not dislodged Eritrean fighters from their positions.

Eritrean President Isayas Afewerki told Reuters in an interview late Friday he was confident his forces would rebuff any attack and said the conflict had been caused by an Ethiopian government afflicted with ``schizophrenia.''

Isayas said he would not be surprised if Ethiopia opened a third front southwest of the Eritrean port of Assab.

After a 30-year armed struggle, Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in May 1993. Ethiopia, whose leaders had fought alongside the Eritreans to oust Marxist military ruler Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991, supported the move and the two countries were allies until last May.

Fighting has eased since Wednesday but both sides have ignored calls from the U.N. Security Council and President Clinton for an immediate cease-fire. Ethiopia says it will force Eritrean troops from territory they occupied last May.

Efforts to resolve the conflict, led by the Organization of African Unity and the United States, have yet to bear fruit.