The attack followed an Ethiopian air raid on the Red Sea port of Massawa Sunday morning and the bombing of Eritrean frontline positions near the town of Zalambessa Saturday, and marks a fresh flare-up in the year-long war.

Eritrea denounced the attacks as a sign that Ethiopia was not interested in ongoing peace efforts and was trying to provoke it into a new round of fighting.

Ethiopian government spokeswoman Selome Taddesse said Ethiopia's air force launched the latest attack at 9:30 p.m. (1830 GMT) Sunday, bombing the Binbina weapons depot near the small Eritrean town of Shambuko, which lies about 25 km (15 miles) from the border. ``Extremely heavy damage was caused to heavy artillery pieces stored in the warehouse and several trucks that had been used to move the weapons,'' she said. ``Antonov planes which were used to bomb the Binbina base returned safely after successfully completing their missions.''

Ethiopia said it inflicted heavy damage on the Massawa port Sunday as well as on a naval base and oil depot there. But reporters at the scene said only a tire workshop was destroyed.

Tens of thousands of people are believed to have died in a ground and air war along the border between the two Horn of Africa states that started last May and June and flared up again in February and March.

Diplomatic attempts are being stepped up to end the war on the basis of a plan by the Organization of African Unity (OAU). Both sides say they accept the plan but disagree on its details and the OAU has not publicly clarified whose interpretation is correct.

Eritrean President Isayas Afewerki met his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak in Cairo Sunday as Egypt became the latest country to get involved in the mediation efforts.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is expected in Cairo Tuesday, but Selome said the dispute with Eritrea would not be on the agenda of purely ``bilateral talks,'' and there would be no meeting with Isayas. ``I would like to make the record clear. There will be no face to face talks between the leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea in Cairo and there will be no talk on a cease-fire,'' she told reporters in Addis Ababa Monday.

Selome also said there was no room for further negotiations outside the OAU plan, which calls for demilitarization of the border and its subsequent demarcation.

But Eritrea said the raids were evidence of Ethiopia's desire ``to thwart all peace efforts.'' ``They seek to provoke us into a new round of fights and throw the whole agreement out of the window,'' the foreign ministry in Asmara said in a statement.

Ethiopian MiG-23 jet fighters dropped 14 bombs on the port, deep inside Eritrean territory, early on Sunday, hitting it for the first time in a year-long border war and killing one man.

The Ethiopian government said it inflicted heavy damage on a naval base, oil depots and the port itself. Reporters who went to Massawa said the bombs destroyed a tyre workshop, killing a tyre repairman who arrived at work early, and set fire to spare parts warehouses and offices in a narrow street.

But the port's central facilities, including the dock, cranes and ships, emerged unscathed and there was no damage to military installations.

``The important thing is that the port remains fully operational,'' said Massawa Port Manager Araia Tseggai.

``A ship was in port at the time but had finished unloading. After the attack another ship, the Bright Star, came into port to continue unloading its cargo of cement,'' added Araia.

Tens of thousands of people are believed to have died in a ground and air war along the border between the two Horn of Africa states which started last May and June and flared up again in February and March.

Diplomatic attempts are being stepped up to end the war on the basis of an Organisation of African Unity (OAU) plan. Both sides say they accept the plan but disagree on its detail. German Ambassador Elmar Timpe was in Massawa during the attack.

The Ethiopian government said it had inflicted heavy damage on a naval base, oil depots and the port itself, but Eritrea said no strategic targets had been hit.

``The Ethiopian Airforce attacked strategic sites in Massawa, the sea port of Eritrea, at 6:30 a.m. (0330 GMT) today,'' said Ethiopian government spokeswoman Selome Taddesse. ''Heavy and extensive damage was caused to the naval base, the oil depot and the port.''

But in Asmara, Eritrean presidential spokesman Yemani Gebremeskel told reporters: ``The Ethiopians missed all their targets. They hit a warehouse in the port area. One person was killed and three were wounded.''

``It is clearly an act of provocation. We know their intentions,'' he added.

The bombing raid comes a day after Ethiopia announced it had also bombed Eritrean frontline positions near the town of Zalambessa on their contested border.

Diplomats in Addis Ababa said the latest air attacks, after a lull of nearly a month, could herald a new round of fighting in a war which has already cost thousands of lives.

The air raids come amid an intensification of diplomatic efforts to mediate between the two sides. Eritrean President Isayas Afewerki met his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak in Cairo Sunday as Egypt became the latest country to get involved in mediation efforts.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi was also expected to arrive in Cairo within days, but Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa said any talks between Meles and Isayas would depend on their consent to meet.

Both sides say they accept a peace plan drawn up by the Organization of African Unity (OAU), but differ in their interpretation of the proposals, which involve a withdrawal of forces from disputed areas and the demarcation of the frontier.

Envoys from Burkina Faso, Rwanda and Uganda also visited one or both of the two countries' capitals last week in efforts to find a peaceful solution to the costly war.

Erupting in May and June last year, the conflict flared again in February when Ethiopian troops pushed Eritrean forces out of the disputed Badme area at the western end of the border. The following month, another Ethiopian assault near the town of Tsorona failed to break through Eritrean lines in the central border area.

Eritrea became an independent state in 1993, when it separated from Ethiopia, with Ethiopian agreement.

``The Ethiopian air force carried out an air attack early Saturday morning at the Zalambessa front, causing heavy damage to Eritrean logistics centers and mechanized units' positions in the area,'' said Ethiopian government spokeswoman Selome Taddesse.

``All aircraft returned to base safely having successfully completed their mission,'' Selome said in a statement.

Eritrean officials were unavailable for comment but there was no news on the radio in Asmara of an attack.

Thousands have been killed in the border war, which first erupted in May and June of last year and restarted in February when Ethiopian troops successfully pushed Eritreans out of the disputed Badme area at the western end of the border.

Afewerki met Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak on Sunday to find new ways to end the fighting between Horn of Africa neighbours Eritrea and Ethiopia.

Earlier in the day Ethiopian forces bombed Massawa in the first attack on the port since the border war erupted a year ago. The government in Addis Ababa announced on Saturday its planes had bombed Eritrean frontline positions along the Zalambessa front on the disputed border.

Afewerki told a news conference he did not consider the attack on Massawa a setback at all, and said the air raids were an Ethiopian ``show of force.''

Asked how much Eritrea was willing to sacrifice to bring peace, he said: ``Anything.''

But questioned as to whether this included land, Afewerki said: ``We can't possibly go as far as compromising territory but we will go to the maximum and have flexibility to find a solution... War will never solve this problem.''

Egypt wants to prevent an escalation in the border conflict which has killed thousands since it erupted last year and flared up again in February.

Both sides say they accept a peace plan drawn up by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), but differ in their interpretation of the proposals, which involve a withdrawal of forces from disputed areas and the demarcation of the frontier.

Afewerki said he was talking about flexibility in terms of implementing the framework agreement, deployment, and other issues linked to the OAU deal. ``Compromising your rights does not show any flexibility,'' he said. ``We believe it could be solved by demarcation,'' he said.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi was expected to arrive in Cairo in the next few days but no meeting has been announced.

Ethiopia said its air force bombed and inflicted heavy damage to Eritrea's naval base and oil depots and the port of Massawa itself early on Sunday morning. In Asmara, Eritrean presidential spokesman Yemani Gebremeskel said the Ethiopians missed their targets, hitting a warehouse, and one person was killed and three were wounded.

Diplomats in Addis Ababa said the latest air attacks, after a lull of nearly a month, could herald a new round of fighting.

Erupting in May and June last year, the conflict flared again in February when Ethiopian troops pushed Eritrean forces out of the disputed Badme area at the western end of the border. The next month, an Ethiopian assault near Tsorona failed to break through Eritrean lines in the central border area.

"If they don't withdraw, we will make them withdraw," Ethiopian spokeswoman told reporters at a briefing in Addis Ababa.

France meanwhile "deplored" the air raids on Saturday and Sunday on the central front, the western front and the Red Sea port city of Massawa.

Paris was repeating its call for an immediate halt in the fighting in the year-long war and the establishment of a ceasefire under an Organisation of African Unity peace plan, foreign ministry deputy spokesman Bernard Valero said in the French capital.

Both sides have accepted the plan, which calls for peacekeepers and neutral demarcation of the 1,000-kilometre (600-mile) border, but it remains moribund because they differ on its interpretation.

Addis Ababa demands the withdrawal of Eritrean forces from all territory they occupied in May last year, but Asmara insists that the plan calls for their retreat only from the Badme region on the western front -- accomplished by Ethiopian force of arms in February.

The dawn raid on Massawa on Sunday killed a watchman, slightly wounded three other people, and damaged warehouses.

It was the first attack on the port city since the fighting began -- and it is far from the front lines -- but Tadesse insisted that the raid "is not a new dimension in the conflict," adding that it was justified by "military activity such as shipment of weapons."

Diplomatic efforts to resolve the war have intensified this month, but without any visible result.

Latest into the fray is Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who held talks in Cairo with Eritrean President Issaias Afewerki at the weekend.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles is due to travel to Cairo on Tuesday, and although several sources said he would hold talks with Mubarak on the war, Tadesse said the visit would be "strictly" about bilateral issues.

And, asked about recent visits to Addis Ababa by emissaries from Rwanda, Uganda, Yemen and Libya, she replied: "we do not believe in proliferation of initiatives."