FIGHTING ABOUT MAKALE

Stratford Evening Post, Volume IV, Issue 40, 27 January 1936, Page 5

FIGHTING ABOUT MAKALE

I Desperate Encounters— Many Troops Killed. . ITALIAN CLAIMS DISCOUNTED BY ABYSSINiANS. Press Association —Copyright. Loudon, January 25. Desperate fighting in which both sides claim the advantage has raged round Makale, whose late is sti 1 in the balance. The combatants are giving their lives recklessly. The present stage of the conflict is the last phase of the general engagement in the Tombien region. The Italians while announcing victory admit losing 25 killed and 19 wounded white officers, 359 soldiers ki led or wounded, and 310 Askaris killed or wounded. These are the largest losses since the inception of the campaign. The Italians assert that the Abyssinian s have lost 8000 men, 4000 ol whom are prisoners. iiia Abyssinians, whose combinec lorces are 40,000. under Has Kansu and Has " Seyoum, discount the Italian claims, and declare the invaders have lost heavily in hand-to-hand fighting between Makale and Hauzien, attend ant upon a successful Abyssinian outflanking movement, but this success seems to have been temporary Italian reinforcements having restorethe position. Nevertheless the Abys sinians assert that their onslaught broke the morale of the Italians one drove them in flight with the loss of two fortified positions, 700 dead, 8000 pnsoners, 12 heavy guns, 112 machineguns, some tanks, and a quantity o! nfles and ammunition.