Eritrea rebels say they killed 12 government troops

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

Eritrea rebels say they killed 12 government troops

 

2011 3:54pm GMT

 

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Two little known Eritrean rebel groups said on Friday they had killed 12 government soldiers in an early morning attack.

 

The Red Sea Afar Democratic Organisation (RSADO) and the Eritrean National Salvation Front said they carried out the raid on Thursday in Kermed, Adi Metras, Ingra Abo, Adi Tela'a and Meshal Akran, all in southern Eritrea.

 

"The enemy units were engaged for nearly two hours," the groups claimed in a statement.

 

"They suffered both human casualties and material losses that included 12 dead and more than 15 wounded, in addition to various types of military hardware."

 

The claims were the first since last year when RSADO said it killed 17 intelligence agents and wounded another 37 in an attack on army barracks.

 

There was no immediate comment from the Eritrean government but authorities in Asmara often dismiss foreign-based opponents as "puppets" acting under the orders of foreign governments.

 

Eritrea accuses arch-foe Ethiopia of working to destabilise the Red Sea state, while Addis Ababa declared openly in April that it would support Eritrean rebels in a bid to oust President Isaias Afewerki's administration.

 

RSADO says its operations are in response to Asmara's refusal to grant autonomy to the Afar, whose homeland straddles Eritrea, Ethiopia and Djibouti.

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

Eritrea rebels say killed 17 soldiers in raid

 

Addis Ababa, December 2 (WIC) - Two Eritrean rebel groups said on Thursday they had killed 17 government soldiers in a dawn raid on a military base in the south of the Red Sea state.

 

The Eritrean Salvation Front (ESF) and the Red Sea Afar Democratic Organisation (RSADO), said their fighters launched the attack in Enda Haji near the town of Tsorono on the border with Ethiopia.

 

The rebels also said they had taken two prisoners.

 

"We held the area until 11 a.m. before we returned back to our positions," RSADO spokesman Yasin Mohamed told Reuters.

 

"Our fighters captured two soldiers, they are in our possession now. The army suffered 17 losses and five injured."

 

Yasin said the rebels also suffered casualties in the attack but he gave no further details.

 

The two rebel groups said in October early-morning attacks in southern Eritrea's Kermed, Adi Metras, Ingra Abo, Adi Tela'a and Meshal Akran killed 12 soldiers and wounded 15.

 

The claims are impossible to verify because there is no independent media in secretive Eritrea and it rarely grants visas to foreign journalists.

 

The Eritrean government has in recent months come under growing pressure from its neighbours who see it as a destabilising influence.

 

Kenya has accused it of flying in weapons for al Shabaab, an insurgent group linked to al Qaeda that has been fighting the Western-backed Somali government since 2007, and which is now also battling Kenyan forces.

 

Eritrea on Wednesday said the war in Somalia could only be solved through talks and that military action would fail. (Reuters)

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

The Afars with in Eritrea are fighting for self determination and wish to have an autonomy in their regions i don't blame them a government dominated by Biher Tigrayans and tigres.

[kingofkings]

I guess that's karma for you