Fighting rages near Horn port

Eritrean troops retook the western town of Teseney on Monday

Fierce fighting is raging close to the Eritrean port of Assab on the Red Sea.

Ethiopia has denied launching an assault for control of the port - Eritrea had earlier accused it of unleashing a large scale offensive in the area.

The Eritreans have been provoking us. Whenever they attack, we will respond

Ethiopian statement

Ethiopian Government spokeswoman Selome Taddesse has reitererated that her country had no territorial ambitions on the Assab front and was only fighting there because its forces had come under heavy fire.

A two-year-old border war between the Horn of Africa neighbours was reignited by a huge Ethiopian offensive last month and international efforts to broker a ceasefire have so far failed.

A statement earlier on Friday from the Eritrean Foreign Ministry said Addis Ababa had deployed three divisions, or more than 20,000 troops, along the length of the eastern front, following "heavy attacks" on Assab on Thursday.

"The offensive continued throughout the night and still continues this morning," the statement said, adding that the Ethiopians had been repulsed, suffering "heavy losses".

Reports on Thursday said artillery exchanges had been going on close to Assab.

The offensive continued throughout the night and still continues this morning

Eritrean statement

The searing daytime temperatures on the volcanic plain behind the port dictate that fighting between the two armies normally takes place at dawn and dusk.

Both sides have blamed each other for the fighting along the eastern front which flared up in recent days.

But the BBC's Cathy Jenkins in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, says that from the outside it is impossible to get independent verification of who started which battle.

On Thursday, The UN Security Council condemned the continuing fighting - in particular near Assab - and called for a ceasefire and renewed peace efforts.

Analysts estimate the conflict has cost more than 100,000 lives.

Key port

Ethiopia, which has been landlocked since Eritrean independence, has consistently denied having territorial intentions on Assab, but in Eritrea the suspicion remains that Ethiopia would like to push all the way to the Red Sea.

Fighting has displaced thousands of civilians

Arguments over Ethiopian access to the port were one of the factors which led to a worsening of relations between the two neighbours before war broke out.

Two weeks ago, the Eritrean army pulled its forces back nearly 30km in response to an Ethiopian demand that Eritrea withdraw from all disputed border territory.

Eritrea insisted the eastern battlefront did not fall into this category, but said it withdrew in order to help push a peace plan put forward by the Organisation of African Unity.

Indirect peace talks brokered by the OAU are taking place in Algiers but they show no sign of a breakthrough.

Eritrea says there can be no ceasefire until Ethiopia pulls out of the territory it has now occupied.

Up to 750,000 Eritreans are thought to have fled their homes and farms during the Ethiopian advance, and some 60,000 of them have poured across the border into neighbouring Sudan.

Repatriation

In a separate development, Ethiopians living in Asmara have been told by the Eritrean Government that they must register immediately to be repatriated to Ethiopia.

Eritrea says the repatriation programme is voluntary and only those who wish to go will be included.

But official notices informing Ethiopians of the registration contradict this.

An estimated 40,000-45,000 Ethiopians live in the capital. Many are temporary workers, but others are business people who have lived in Eritrea for years.