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DATE=5/16/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ETHIOPIA / ERITREA (L)
NUMBER=2-262413
BYLINE=SCOTT STEARNS
DATELINE=ADI HAYARAI
CONTENT=

VOICED AT: 


INTRO:  Ethiopia is reinforcing its drive into western 
Eritrea.  East Africa Correspondent Scott Stearns 
reports from the battlefront that Ethiopian forces are 
trying to cut the Eritrean army's main re-supply 
route.

TEST:  Day and night, convoys of Ethiopian trucks roll 
across the border.  Some carry troops, some carry 
food, and some carry fuel.  All are heading for the 
Eritrean town of Barentu, a key re-supply point for 
Eritrea's western army on the main road from the 
capital, Asmara.  Ethiopia hopes to cut that route, 
making it easier to push farther inside western 
Eritrea.

Ethiopia's army says it is approaching Barentu on two 
fronts  // OPT // northwest from the village of Tole 
on the road from Mandefera, 50-kilometers south of 
Asmara, and north on the road from Ducombia. // END 
OPT //

The Ethiopean military says Eritrean units farther 
west (in Omhudger) are pulling back through Barentu to 
prevent being cut off.  That could open another front 
as Ethiopian troops move up to the Sudanese border to 
fill the void.

On the fifth day of this round of fighting, Ethiopia 
appears to have had the upper hand.  Ethiopian Colonel 
Atakilt led the offensive across the Mereb river.

       ///  ATAKILT ACT - IN TIGREAN - FADE UNDER  ///

Colonel Atakilt says his forces chased the Eritrean 
troops over a ridge and down onto the plain into 
Eritrea.  He says - we are still chasing them.

There is evidence that the Eritreans left quickly.  
They burned a fuel depot and abandoned hundreds of 
crates of tank rounds that the Ethiopians are trucking 
to the front.

Land that just days ago was under Eritrean control now 
has batteries of Ethiopian field guns pointed north.  
While Ethiopians are clearly pleased with their 
progress thus far, they are mindful of how quickly 
this war can change.  They have stationed troops 
across their newly won territory, clearing land mines 
and restocking ammunition in the trenches; preparing 
for a possible counter attack on the central front.   
(SIGNED)

NEB/SKS/JWH/RAE



16-May-2000 07:23 AM EDT (16-May-2000 1123 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.