Word: eritrea
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Ethiopians fear that the loss of Eritrea could become the first important step in the disintegration of their country. They have been training 200,000 peasant militiamen to make a sort of human-wave assault on Eritrea, reinforcing the 25,000 hard-pressed regular troops on duty in the province. But the Eritreans are far more highly motivated. "We didn't see any reason to fight and die here," explained one of the 500 Ethiopians who surrendered during their recent losing battle for the city of Tessenei. "The Eritreans wanted a victory, and they got it. We want...
Among outside powers, who supports whom in the conflict? To keep track of this, you need patience, a scorecard-and a map. Eritrea is backed by neighboring Sudan, which has long been at odds with Ethiopia and which provides most of the Eritreans' supplies via truck convoys. Radio Ethiopia regularly beams anti-Sudanese broadcasts to Khartoum, threatening to behead Sudanese President Jaafar Numeiry if and when the Ethiopian peasant army manages to roll into Sudan. In response, Khartoum-based Radio Eritrea advises Ethiopians: "We surround your troops in every city they illegally occupy. The war is doomed...
...Eritreans today are also supported by most of the other Arab states-Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq and Kuwait. The Arabs have always tended to favor the Eritreans over the Ethiopians because they wanted the region to be Arab-oriented. Today the Arab states support Eritrea for an additional reason: the Soviets support Eritrea's enemy, Ethiopia. The Arabs are anxious that the Horn of Africa should not become a Russian zone of influence...
...have given the Ethiopians $100 million in military aid, while Libya's Strongman Muammar Gaddafi-ever the Arab world's odd man out-has done the same. Moreover, an estimated 3,000 Cubans are now in Ethiopia helping to prepare the peasant army for its assault on Eritrea...
Once inside Eritrea, we traveled cross-country, mostly by Land Rover, often at night. It was necessary for two people to drive-one at the wheel, the other calling out the terrain ahead or shouting out the depths of a river in the manner of Mark Twain...