The area is close to the disputed Badime region which Ethiopia recaptured several weeks ago.

Selome did not say which side had started the clashes, explaining only that skirmishes had erupted on Wednesday before erupting into fighting this morning.

She added that she had no details about the fighting except that it was still continuing.

There had been no word about the Shembeko clashes from the Eritrean authorities, and no independent confirmation.

The renewed hostilities on the western front come after a three-week lull in the area following the conclusion of Ethiopia's successful Operation Sunset offensive, and represents an unexpected escalation in the conflict.

Most observers believed that after six days of clashes along the central front, the next zone to be engulfed in fighting would be to the east of Zalanbessa in the disputed areas around the town of Alitiena. That part of the border is still said to be quiet.

Meanwhile, Selome confirmed that Ethiopian and Eritrean troops were still engaged along the Zalanbessa-Tsorona front.

She once again denied Eritrean claims about the scale of Ethiopia's losses, denouncing their estimate that 10,000 Ethiopian soldiers had been killed, as a figment of their imagination.

According to some sources, today's fighting on the central front was relatively light, especially in comparison to yesterday's heavy clashes.

"There is fighting around the Mereb river, near the Shambiko area" on the western front, Ethiopian government spokeswoman Salome Tadesse said, adding that clashes were under way on the central Zala Anbesa-Egala front.

Earlier Friday, Eritrea's foreign ministry said its forces had captured an Ethiopian helicopter gunship as fighting raged Wednesday and Thursday on the western front.

The ministry in Asmara also said, in a statement faxed to AFP, that more than 10,000 Ethiopian soldiers had been killed on the central Tsorona front from Sunday to Tuesday.

The latter claim was denied by Addis Ababa, and casualty figures could not be independently confirmed.

Asmara has already spoken of "massive" Ethiopian losses, accusing its enemy of using "human waves" of troops and press-ganging civilians into taking ammunition to front lines.

African diplomats at the Addis Ababa headquarters of the OAU, which has drawn up a Horn peace plan accepted in principle by both sides, meanwhile began talks on a programme for a ministerial meeting of the pan-African body in Burkina Faso next Monday and Tuesday.

Officially, no African conflicts are on the agenda for the Ouagadougou talks -- which will concern administrative, judicial and financial issues -- but diplomats here said that their meeting would enable envoys to hold consultations.

Eritrea's ambassador to Addis Ababa, Girma Asmerom, who was accredited to the OAU but declared persona non grata by Ethiopia in February, was replaced Friday by charge d'affaires Saleh Omar, an AFP correspondent noted.

Friday's statement from Asmara said that during Wednesday and Thursday's fighting on the Mereb-Setit front, an Ethiopian M1-35 gunship was captured on Thursday, four tanks and three vehicles carrying anti-aircraft guns were destroyed and two other tanks were taken intact.

It accused Ethiopia of starting the latest battles on March 14 in defiance of UN Security Council calls urging it "to stop its continued military action," and of reneging on its earlier acceptance of the OAU peace accord, by rejecting any ceasefire unless its new preconditions are met.

The Security Council on Thursday again urged an end to the war. After a closed-door meeting, Security Council president Qin Huasun said its 15 members were seriously concerned and wanted an "immediate ceasefire".

In Addis Ababa, Tadesse said: "We still continue working with the OAU and its peace plan supported by the UN as it has been in the past. ... We have asked so many times and for 10 months the withdrawal of the Eritrean troops from Ethiopian territory."

The fighting has continued despite Eritrea's acceptance of the OAU peace framework plan on February 27, after Ethiopia made territorial gains in the disputed border region of Badme.

Council members encouraged UN chief Kofi Annan "to redouble his efforts in cooperation with the OAU in order to bring the parties to the negotiating table."

Western diplomats reported a consensus among council members that Annan should play a more active role alongside the OAU and could be instrumental in clarifying aspects of its plan, notably references to a withdrawal by Eritrean troops, which have had differing interpretations.

Intro: Eritrea says it has scored another victory in its border war with Ethiopia. As VOA's Scott Stearns reports, Ethiopia says the battle is far from over.

Text: After a week of fighting on the central Tsorona front, combat has shifted 160 kilometers west to areas around the border town of Badame.

Eritrea lost Badame three weeks ago. Now they are regrouping on that front, saying Ethiopia has sustained considerable losses, with Eritrea capturing an m-i 35 helicopter gunship and destroying four tanks and three z-u 23 anti-aircraft guns. A foreign ministry statement says Eritrea also captured two tanks intact after driving back what it calls new Ethiopian attacks.

Ethiopia rejects the claims of battlefield losses but would not comment further on reports of fighting around Badame.

Ethiopia says there is more combat on the Tsorona front Friday with most action on the adjacent Egela front west of the Ertirean-held border town of Zalambesa.

Eritrea says it killed more than 10-thousand Ethiopians in fighting there this week, shooting-down a mig-23 fighter jet and destroying 57 tanks.

Eritrea says it is ready to pull-back its forces at the same time as Ethiopia in keeping with an organization of African Unity Plan. But Eritrea says Ethiopia is trying to go back on the deal by continuing the fight and introducing new pre-conditions to torpedo the peace process.

The OAU plan calls on both sides to demilitarize the border ahead of an international monitoring force for disputed areas and a commission to decide the exact location of the border within six months.

Ethiopia says it is Eritrea that is blocking OAU mediation by refusing to withdraw from territories administered by Ethiopia before fighting began last May. (signed)

19-Mar-99 4:15 AM EST (0915 UTC)
Source: Voice of America