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Eritrea accuses Ethiopia of faking ID cards in Somalia
Mon. January 01, 2007 06:54 am. -
Bonny Apunyu
(SomaliNet) In yet another scuffle, Eritrea on Sunday accused arch-foe Ethiopia of fabricating identity cards to support claims that Eritrea sent troops to back the Islamist movement in Somalia.
However, Ethiopia says hundreds of Eritreans have been killed during nearly two weeks of war between the Somalia Islamic Courts Council and Somali government troops backed by Ethiopian tanks, soldiers and jet fighters. But Asmara denies the Ethiopian accusations.
“The forces of invasion in Somalia through the mercenary agent (Ethiopia)... are resorting to the futile ploy of seizing and duplicating the ID cards of Eritreans residing in Ethiopia and sending such cards to Somalia with a view to backing up their baseless claims,” Eritrea said in a statement.
Meanwhile, a recent U.N. report said Eritrea had more than 2,000 soldiers inside Somalia and Washington has accused Asmara of using the anarchic Horn of Africa country to fight a proxy war against Addis Ababa in Somalia.
Last week, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said his forces were hunting Eritreans who were "hiding behind the skirts of Somali women" after Islamist fighters fled the battlefield.
Asmara says the United Nations is in cahoots with the United States to destabilise the region.
Following the rapid advance of the joint Ethiopian-government force in Somalia, rest analysts fear that the fighting there could grow into a regional war between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
The two nations fought a 1998-2000 border war that killed 70,000 people and tensions between them remain high. –Reuters.
News Category: Somalia
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