Eritrea accuses Ethiopia of bomb attack

January 31, 2008 (NAIROBI) — Eritrea accused arch-foe Ethiopia on Wednesday of masterminding a bomb blast, which it said happened last week, killing one person and injuring eight others.

“Terrorists sponsored by the (Ethiopian) regime carried out terrorist acts in Tessenei resulting in damage to civilians,” a statement on the Eritrean information ministry website read. It said the attack took place last Friday morning.

“One person was killed and about eight others sustained injuries in the terrorist attack through a time bomb that exploded in a business site of the town.”

Tessenei lied in the extreme west of Eritrea, close to the border with Sudan.

Eritrea also accused Ethiopia of a “continuation” of “acts of hostility, provocation (and) incursion,” including the planting of landmines.

The neighbours remained deadlocked in a border standoff after their devastating 1998-2000 war, which left 70 000 people dead.

Eritrea had repeatedly accused its bigger and more powerful neighbour of bracing for a new border war, a claim dismissed by Addis Ababa as a bid by Asmara to divert attention from its internal woes.

A total of some 200 000 troops from both sides were deployed along the border, fuelling international fears of a new flare-up.

A UN-appointed border panel, part of a 2000 peace deal, was dissolved in November with Ethiopia refusing to recognise a ruling that granted Eritrea a flashpoint border town.

(AFP)