Eritrean rebels ‘free political prisoners’

Press, 20 July 1977, Page 9

Eritrean rebels ‘free political prisoners’

NZPA-Reuter Rome Eritrean rebels fighting for independence from Ethiopia are attacking the capital of Asmara and the principal port of Massawa, and they have freed 1000 political prisoners from a prison camp inside Asmara, according to a spokesman in Rome.

Mr Amde Michael, spokesman for the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front, said its troops had begun full-fledged attacks on Asmara and the Red Sea port four days ago. They are among the few cities left in the hands of Ethiopian troops after battle-field victories by the E.P.L.F. and another rebel group, the Eritrean Liberation Front.

“We attacked Asmara from three sides, concentrating on the camps where the so-called people’s militia are stationed,” Mr Amde said.

He said the attacking troops had penetrated to Sembel Prison inside Asmara and freed the prisoners, transferring them to their own base camps outside the city. He said Asmara was still being shelled by heavy artillery.

There were an estimated 8000 defenders in Asmara and 4000 in Massawa, including regular Ethiopian troops and units of the people’s militia.

Ethiopia has mounted a force of as many as 200,000

peasant militiamen to bolster its 50,000-man army. Half of the army is reported to be engaged in Eritrea.

E.P.L.F. troops this month announced the capture of two important cities to the north and south of Asmara — the regional capital of Keren, to the north, and the big economic centre of Decamere, to the south. A Western correspondent confirmed the fall of Keren in an on-the-spot report on July 9.

Earlier in the year, the regional capital of Nakfa became the first to fall to rebel forces. It is in the Sahel region in the northeastern part of Eritrea, the site of the headquarters of the E.P.L.F.