193 Ethiopian soldiers killed in rebel attack – statement

March 15, 2007 (ADDIS ABABA) — Two Ethiopian rebel groups have claimed jointly 193 government’s soldiers in an attack the governmental army in north-western Ethiopia last week.

The Tigray People’s Democratic Movement and the Southern Ethiopian Peoples’ Front for Justice and Equality — both Ethiopian rebel groups — have said they killed nearly two hundred regular soldiers in a joint operation they carried out on 8 March.

The two organizations said in a joint statement that 193 soldiers of the regime were killed and some 100 others wounded while several light and medium-sized weapons were also seized in a lightening attack launched against the 2nd regiment of the 31st division of the Ethiopian army deployed in Adi Geshu, Karsa Humera District, in western Tigray, in northwestern Ethiopia.

The statement added that a Toyota Land Cruiser, a Russian-made WAZ military vehicle and an arms depot in Adi Geshu were completely destroyed.

(ST)