Addis Ababa - Ethiopia said yesterday that it had killed, wounded or captured more than 8,200 Eritrean troops in four days of renewed border warfare.
Earlier, Eritrea had announced that its forces had killed more than 4,200 Ethiopian troops in the fresh outbreak of fighting, which began last Thursday. "In repelling enemy attacks, Ethiopian defence forces killed, wounded and captured a total of over 8,200 Eritrean troops in counter-offensives," the Ethiopian government spokeswoman Ms Selome Taddesse said.
She said Eritrea had deployed 16 brigades around the Mereb river in the latest outbreak in the frontier war. The Ethiopian army had inflicted heavy material losses on the Eritrean forces, she said, adding that the latest fighting was initiated by Eritrea.
In an earlier broadcast from Asmara, Eritrea said its forces had destroyed five tanks and shot down an Ethiopian Mi-35 helicopter gunship. The Eritrean presidential spokesman Yermane Gebremeskel said that the casualty toll was high because the Ethiopians had concentrated their attack, using two divisions with about 20,000 men in the assault.