REPORTS OF ATTACKS IN ERITREA

UNCLAS ASMARA 000364 SENSITIVE DEPARTMENT FOR DS/IP/AF, DS/TIA/ITA, DS/IP/SPC/SO, AND AF/E E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ASEC PGOV PREL ER SUBJECT: REPORTS OF ATTACKS IN ERITREA REF: ASMARA 350 ¶1. (SBU) An Eritrean Democratic Alliance website claimed that two Eritrean males were wounded when unknown assailants launched an RPG rocket at their pickup truck on the Aderde highway halfway between Keren and Agordat. Eritrean military and security forces searched the area and according to the report arrested "scores of people." The website did not say which group initiated the attack. Two weeks ago, three locally hired employees of the Chalice Gold Mine Ltd. were gunned down in a vehicle approximately 25 miles north of Keren (Reftel). ¶2. (SBU) The website www.democrasia.org claimed that fighters of the Eritrean People's Democratic Front (EPDF) repelled an ambush from Eritrean soldiers approximately 30 miles SE of Mendefeira near the village of Tsorena. EPDF claimed it killed two Eritrean soldiers and wounded two others in the skirmish. The EPDF is affiliated with the Eritrean Democratic Alliance. ¶3. (SBU) Post Comments: Post has not been able to verify these reports. There has been no mention of these attacks in the Eritrean press. McMULLEN