ERITREA: FIGHTING CONTINUES AS TROOPS SHOOT DOWN ETHIOPIAN GUNSHIP

(16 Feb 1999) English/Nat

Eritrean soldiers have shot down an Ethiopian helicopter after two days of intensive fighting along the border that divides the two countries.

Both the helicopter's pilot and co-pilot were killed when the Soviet built M-24 crashed to the ground and burst into flames.

Fighting continues despite both sides claiming military victory.

Eritreans rushed to the crash site after news quickly spread that their soldiers had shot down an Ethiopian helicopter on Sunday.

The soldiers danced around the wreckage celebrating a small, symbolic victory in the border war with Ethiopia.

The helicopter was shot down near the Red Sea port town of Assab where the latest bout of fighting has broken out.

The battle for disputed territory along the border that divides Eritrea and Ethiopia first broke out last May.

More than one thousand people were killed before fighting waned in mid-June,
following the implementation of a U.S brokered moratorium on air strikes.

But fighting flared up again just over a week ago, with the Eritreans claiming Ethiopia is using aircraft in violation of the U.S deal.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We shot down an Ethiopian helicopter early in the morning."
(NB - it may sound like the soldier is saying Egyptian helicopter but it is definitely Ethiopian)
SUPER CAPTION: Ethiopian soldier

On Monday, shelling just west of Assab went on for three hours and ended shortly after noon.

The port of Assab is an important target for landlocked Ethiopia because it was once the country's main transit point for import and export cargo.

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