Unidentified Missile Sinks Eritrean Gun-Boat

80 More Eritrean Soldiers Defect To Djibouti

Djibouti, June 14, 2008 (SL Times) – At least one gunboat belonging to Eritrea was sunk after being hit by a missile yesterday.

According to highly reliable sources the boat was blown to pieces after taking a direct hit.

All the crew members were believed to have been killed, the sources said.

It was not known whether the missile has been fired by the French warships currently stationed in the Red Sea off the Eritrean-Djibouti coast or by the Djiboutian navy.

The Eritreans have reportedly been using 2 gunboats to fire on Djiboutian ground troops who since last Wednesday were trying to dislodge the Eritreans from positions inside the Djiboutian border that they seized on Tuesday.

On Tuesday fighting broke out between Eritrea and Djibouti at the Ras Dameria border point where the 2 sides have been amassing troops in the last several weeks.

The Somaliland Times can confirm the defection of 80 more Eritreans soldiers to Djibouti since Thursday. Scores of Eritrean soldiers were reported surrendering to the Djiboutian side on Wednesday.

Djiboutian casualties since the war started have been estimated at 20 dead and over 100 injured.

Meanwhile latest repots from the frontline reaching Djibouti indicate that the Eritrean troops have now been pushed back to their former positions before the outbreak of this week’s hostilities.

Source: Somaliland Times