Monday, June 13, 2016
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (HOL) - Reports from the border areas between Ethiopia and Eritrea say the troops of the two countries fought heavily on Sunday afternoon.
There has been many years of quarrel over areas near the border between the two countries where both Ethiopia and Eritrea lay claim to territoriy.
However the Ethiopian information minister told international media that there was no fighting there yesterday. Contrarily, reports from locals confirm the clash between the Ethiopian troops and the Eritrean troops with some describing the skirmish as "fierce".
Eritrea won independence from Ethiopia in 1991 after a bloody war claiming the lives of over 70,000. In April 1993 Eritrea voted unanimously in favour of independence in a referendum supported by Ethiopia. In the year 2000 both sides returned to hostilities in a border war.
The UN has since then intervened the matter and a UN tribunal judged that the disputed areas belong to Eritrea. Ethiopia rejected the ruling.