Eritrea officially accuses Sudan, Ethiopia for explosions in border town

ASMARA, Mar 06, 2004 (Sudan Tribune) — Asmara officially accused yesterday Ethiopia and Sudan for being behind the incident and seriously condemned terrorist operations which were targeting its citizens.

The explosions which took place at Hashferai hotel in theTesney town of Eritrea located close to the Sudanese-Eritrean border last Monday 1 March killed a number of Eritrean civilians and others injured.

The organizing secretary of the ruling People’s Front For Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) announced that all the victims of the explosion were children, women and old men. He said this was a “terrorist” operation against Eritrean people.

Abdallah Jabir said to the London alsharq al-Awsat newspaper “This is not the first time terrorist operations have taken place. In fact a number of terrorist activities have taken place before, and we are sure they are supported by the Ethiopian and Sudanese regimes”.

He further added “We will not be lax in dealing with theses terrorist operations and we are going to respond decisively. We are also going to take measures to erase terrorism and terrorists”.

The Eritrean official officially accused Khartoum and Addis Ababa for being behind this incident, saying they wanted to disrupt his country’s stability.

Meanwhile, UN sources said the number of those killed had reached three and a number of others injured, although the official figures have not yet been released.

Eye witnesses said the number of those injured was 15 people. They said: On Monday evening, two huge explosions by the use of timed bombs targeted the hotel which is located in the central area of the town.