Children study by night to avoid planes

Press, 9 May 1978, Page 8

Children study by night to avoid planes

By

MICHAEL J. DUFFY,

NZPA correspondnet. Mandefera, Eritrea

The Ethiopian Government is carrying out a relentless daytime air war against secessionist guerrillas in Eritrea, forcing many civilians to go about their tasks in the darkness of the night. Classes for schoolchildren begin at dusk. The United States-made F 5 fighters and Soviet-sup-plied MiG2ls are flown by pilots from Cuba and the Leftist Arab nation of Yemen. For two weeks this re- ' porter toured areas conby the Eritrean Liberation Front, and saw the effects of Ethiopian air power on life inside Eritrea.

From a military point of view, the planes allow the Ethiopians to soften guerrillas positions in hot fighting areas, to maintain some military presence in distant areas controlled by the rebels, and to prevent the I movement of troops and material during the day when every truck on the road is a target. For civilians, the planes are a source of death and terror that keep life in the cities and villages from returning to normal. Eritrean rebels have been fighting for independence since Ethiopia annexed their homeland in 1962. Victories in the last two years have brought the E.L.F. and the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front control of the entire countryside and all but a few of the main cities.

Eritrea, with a population of three million, provides Ethiopia its only access to

.the sea, and is a strategic (spot in the Hom of Africa I for control of oil traffic through the Red Sea. Now that Ethiopia has succeeded, with Cuban and Soviet help, in chasing Somali troops from the contested area of the Ogaden in the south-east, the northern province of Eritrea, has become the focus of activity.

Backing the ground troops are Fss left over from the late Emperor Haile Selassie’s era, when Ethiopia was a principal African ally of the United States, and MiG2ls that have been imported since the new military regime proclaimed itself revolutionary socialist. E.L.F. military leaders told us that they estimate that 4000 Cuban troops, 35,100 Ethiopians, and 100 Sovietbuilt tanks are massed south of Eritrea’s border, poised for a big attack. They said airstrips in the neighbouring province, Tigre, were being expanded for intensified air strikes.

Mosst of the estimated 15,000 ELF troops are concentrated in the area between the border and Asmara, the Eritrean capital, near the coast, where besieged Ethiopian troops recently made unsuccessfitl attempts to break through a guerrilla noose around the city. In one village, school was conducted during the day but in camouflaged classrooms of thatch a half-hours walk from the village. In every village and town along the way, local militiamen cleared the streets during the day, telling people to remain inside their huts or to spend the day hidden in the fields.