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150
Ethiopian troops defect to Eritrea: |
NAIROBI (AFP)
- About 150 Ethiopian troops, including a
senior commander, have deserted the
country's army and escaped to Addis Ababa's
arch-foe nation Eritrea, officials said
Thursday.
They said the desertions, which still
remained unexplained, were the first to hit
the Ethiopian military, but Asmara
attributed them to a growing disenchantment
with the ruling party.
"According to our reports, around 150
members of the Ethiopian army defected to
Eritrea on Tuesday," an official with the UN
border mission told AFP on conditions of
anonymity.
"This seems to be the first massive
defection of Ethiopian soldiers ... we have
no information concerning the reason of this
defection," the official said.
Defence Ministry spokesmam Dawit Asefa only
confirmed the defection of General Kemal
Gelchu on Tuesday.
"An Ethiopian general, Kemal Gelchu, escaped
to Eritrea two days ago, that's the only
confirmation we have", Dawit told AFP by
phone.
An Eritrean government website said the
defection pointed to a growing disaffection
by Ethiopians with the government, which it
blamed for "suppressing the struggle of
opposition organisations and failing to
honour the outcome of the popular election
and desperately trying to prolong its stay
in power."
"As a vivid demonstration of these
developments ... senior commander of the
enemy force ... and tens of other army
commanders including colonels together with
hundreds of soldiers safely arrived in
Eritrea ... along with their full logistics,
communication equipment and military
hardware," Eritrea's information ministry
said in the website.
Relations between the two Horn of Africa
nations have remained tense since they
fought a two-year border war that claimed
the lives of some 80,000 people and continue
to trade blame over the unresolved border
demarcation.
In addition, Addis Ababa repeatedly accuses
Asmara of supporting rebel movements in
Ethiopia in a bid to destabilise the
government.
Source AFP
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