Ethiopian troops parade/FILE
“It is those who do not know the price of war who are hungry to go to war,” Eritrean Information Minister Ali Abdu told AFP by telephone.
“We fought enough for 30 years, and we will never be dragged into war through such hostile provocations as this.”
Ethiopia on Thursday said it attacked Eritrean military bases over the killing of five European tourists on its territory in January, accusing Eritrea of training “hit-and-run terrorists.”
Ali said the charges it supported rebel groups were a lie, instead accusing Addis Ababa of carrying out attacks against Eritrea since the end of their bloody 1998-2000 border war, which left at least 70,000 dead.
Eritrea broke away from Ethiopia and won independence in 1993 after a 30-year struggle.
“The regime has been engaged in such aggressive acts for the last ten years,” Ali said, speaking in the Eritrean capital Asmara.
“We do not support such groups, as these are the products of Ethiopia’s own internal crisis and the result of a policy of exclusion and marginalisation,” he added.
He declined to give details of exactly what the Ethiopians had attacked and the damage that had been caused, adding that reports were still being made.
Two Germans, two Austrians and one Hungarian were killed in the January attack on the slopes of Ethiopia’s famed Erta Ale volcano in the desolate Afar border region. Ethiopian rebels claimed responsibility for the attack.
Thursday’s attack took place 16 kilometres (10 miles) inside Eritrea, according to Ethiopian government spokesman Shimeles Kemal.
Neither Ethiopia nor Eritrea have said what the casualties were on either side.
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