07:13 a.m. Jun 15, 1998 Eastern
By Rosalind Russell
ERDE MATTIOS, Ethiopia, June 15 (Reuters) - In an animal enclosure close to the front line in the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea, 11 bodies lie baking in the sun.
Ethiopian troops say the blackened and bloated corpses are those of Eritrean soldiers, but aside from evidence of head wounds it is not clear how they died.
Some wear uniforms, some are dressed in civilian clothes, some have sandals, some are shoeless.
Nearby an elderly farmer surveys the ruins of his house, which was built of stone with a roof of mud and sticks.
``They (the Eritreans) hit my house with a shell,'' he said. ``They are occupying our land and our families have had to flee without their cattle,'' said the man who was too frail to leave.
It is difficult to see why Ethiopia and Eritrea would want to fight over the parched patch of earth that constitutes the Badme front.
Hundreds have died in the conflict between former Horn of Africa allies that is being fought on three fronts including Badme.
There are patches of dark soil where cultivation of sesame and sorghum is possible and some marble extracted. But most of the area is rich in nothing but thorn trees and baked earth.
``There is nothing special there,'' Kiros Betioul, leader of western Tigray, the northern Ethiopian province that includes the Badme area, told Reuters. ``It has no particular potential. Most of the people there are small farmers.''
Both sides said on Monday they had agreed to a moratorium on air strikes under a deal brokered by U.S. President Bill Clinton.
Ethiopia said at the weekend that nearly 11,000 Eritrean soldiers had been killed or wounded and 150 captured on the conflict's three battle fronts. Eritrea has not released casualty figures, saying this is in line with the ``tradition'' of the 30-year war it fought to get its independence in 1993.
Nearly 2,000 Eritreans died and 1,600 were wounded in one fierce 15-hour infantry and tank battle on Thursday along the Erde Mattios ridge some 10 km (six miles) northwest of Sheraro, an Ethiopian colonel told reporters.
Ethiopia sustained 38 killed and 250 wounded in the fighting, according to the colonel, who declined to be identified.
Ethiopian soldiers said they had buried some of the bodies and a Reuters team who visited the area saw small mounds of earth that could have been graves.
But it was not possible to determine whether that evidence and the 11 bodies reflected the truth or inaccuracy of Ethiopia's casualty figures.
The area was peaceful on Sunday, but swarms of Ethiopian soldiers patrolled the 25-km (15-mile) front line, scanning the area through binoculars, sending radio messages or relaxing in the shade outside deserted stone farmhouses.
Fighting first broke out in early May, when three brigades of Eritrean troops rolled across the border and occupied the 400 sq km (156 sq miles) area claimed by both sides.
At the time, the region was totally undefended, Ethiopian military officials said.
Of the area's population of around 24,000 people, most have fled but only 18,000 have been accounted for and some residents are still searching for missing family members, according to local officials.
Eritrean forces still occupy much the same area and Ethiopian soldiers said their strategy was to attack their enemy only when the Eritreans attempted to push their positions southwards towards the town of Sheraro.
``Our approach is not to push them out, because our government has started a peace effort,'' the colonel said.
``When they make an offensive, our strategy is to engage them as much as possible and weaken them.''