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afrol.com, 3 October - Officials from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees recently were the first foreigners to visit the border area of Eritrea vacated by Ethiopian troops on 21 September. They found the area almost completely destroyed, thoroughly looted, depopulated and mined. The once thriving centre of Omhajer was in ruins. The findings dashed hopes for a speedy return of the town’s 7,000 inhabitants driven out by the recent war between Ethiopia and Eritrea. The scope of destruction also cast doubt on the return of tens of thousands more people driven out from other areas not yet visited by UNHCR. A team of UNHCR field workers, accompanied by partner agencies, travelled last week to the town of Omhajer, nearly 300 kms southwest of Eritrea’s capital, Asmara. They were the first foreigners to visit the town since Ethiopian troops pulled back on September 21. The town, located in the southwest corner of Eritrea wedged between the Ethiopian and Sudanese borders, was once an important political, economic and military centre for Eritrea on the Setit River. The team found all permanent structures and public buildings, including the city hospital and two schools, 80 percent destroyed. The roofs and all items of any value had been removed. All commercial buildings were completely looted. The local mosque and one Orthodox church had been heavily damaged, with much of the roof of the mosque missing, and a fire apparently lit within the church. Everything of value had either been taken or destroyed, including the church’s icons. The local military said since the Ethiopians pulled back one local man was killed by a land mine and 50 other mines had been cleared. Many of the tukuls (traditional mud/wood/straw houses) have also been destroyed. The Ethiopian troops, who held the area for three months, withdrew last month under a peace agreement signed by Ethiopia and Eritrea in Algiers last June. The war drove some 100.000 Eritreans into neighbouring Sudan and displaced many more inside of Eritrea. About half of those in Sudan have since gone back. The war was also a setback for UNHCR’s plans to return up to 160,000 Eritreans who had fled to Sudan during earlier conflicts. A journalist who visited the town of Zala Anbesa on 26 May 2000, the day after Ethiopian troops took it over from Eritrean forces, reported that the town had been mined and virtually destroyed by the Eritreans. Landmines Soon after the start of the border war between Eritrea and Ethiopia in May 1998, Ethiopia accused Eritrea of planting landmines in the conflict zone and areas of Ethiopia controlled by Eritrea. Ethiopia has alleged that Eritrea planted 110.000 mines. In late May 2000, Ethiopia accused Eritrea of planting mines in border towns before losing control of them to Ethiopian troops. The Eritrean government alleged to Landmine Monitor in early 2000 that Ethiopian forces have been using landmines in the disputed territories, and that the mines are to a large extent not mapped or marked. The Eritrean government in late May and early June 2000 accused Ethiopia of laying mines in the towns Ethiopian forces were occupying. In particular, when Eritrean forces recaptured the town of Barentu two weeks after it had been taken by Ethiopian troops, there were press accounts stating that the Ethiopians had looted and mined the town. In an aide-memoire dated 17 July 2000 to the OAU and UN, Eritrea said that "Ethiopia has and continues to plant new mines inside sovereign Eritrean territory, particularly in the areas which fall within the temporary security zone." Even before the current Eritrea-Ethiopian war, Eritrea was heavily mine-affected. It is estimated that more than 5% of Eritrea's total land area may be mine-affected. Most of the mined areas are located in the mainly rural sections of northern, northwestern, and south provinces of the country. Landmine accidents usually occur along old trench lines, army garrisons, farmlands, and water wells. Areas that had been extensively mined include approaches to villages and towns, arable and pasture areas, roads, military camps, and bridges. Landmines were used in some of the most fertile and agriculturally important parts of the country and have created major problems for agriculture, locust control, rehabilitation, reconstruction, tourism, and development efforts in the country. Source: UNHCR & Landmine Monitor
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