Ethiopia says Eritreans on retreat

Ethiopian troops are reported within 100km of Asmara

Ethiopia says the Eritrean army has abandoned its main military training centre in western Eritrea, after repeated bombing raids by the Ethiopian air force.

The Ethiopian Government statement - which could not be independently verified - says that Eritrean troops have been retreating west towards Sudan since the bombing of the training centre at Sawa, north of Teseney.

The latest moves came on the 10th day of the Ethiopian military incursion into neighbouring Eritrea.

In the Eritrean capital Asmara, the United States has started evacuating non-essential embassy staff and other American and foreign citizens.

Ethiopian troops are reportedly within 96km of the city.

However, Eritrean presidential spokesman Yemane Gebremeskel has insisted that Asmara is not in danger.

Fighting eases

Correspondents say the latest Ethiopian statement adds further weight to the belief that Eritrean forces in the west of the country are now cut off.

Ethiopia's stated aim is to destroy Eritrean military

Sawa is first said to have come under attack from the Ethiopian air force on Thursday.

It was a military establishment which the Eritreans regarded with great pride, as it was a training centre for Eritreans undergoing national service.

Ethiopia says that since the bombing of Sawa over the past few days, Eritrean troops have moved west towards Sudan.

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For the moment fighting is thought to have subsided on all fronts.

Thousands of civilians from western Eritrea have now crossed the Sudanese border.

A BBC correspondent in Addis Ababa says that with the Eritrean Government apparently having lost control of large parts of the west of the country, the focus is now on the Ethiopian advance towards the key town of Mendefera, south of Asmara.

Evacuation

Earlier, the United States began evacuating some of its embassy staff and other American and foreign citizens from Eritrea.

A chartered aircraft carrying more than 200 people took the first lot of evacuees from Asmara, and on to Germany.

The evacuees included American embassy staff and aid workers, as well as expatriates from Canada, Britain and Denmark.

Other foreigners gathered to join later flights out of the country.

US spokeswoman Collette Christian said 12 embassy workers would remain in the capital.

A number of Eritreans with dual nationality have been told by the Eritrean authorities that they must remain, as they are eligible for military service.

The declared aim of Ethiopia's offensive is to destroy the Eritrean military completely in order to end the two-year conflict along their common border.

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