A government statement issued in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, described air raids on Eritrea, and an attack on its ambassador's residence in Ethiopia, as illegal and inhumane.

Ethiopian TV reported that the Ethiopian airforce and artillery attacked Eritrean forces on all three fronts in the border war on Monday.

The Office of the Ethiopian Government said its forces had caused "heavy damage" to Eritrean troops and positions, without going into further details.

Eritrea claimed that four civilians were killed on Sunday when Ethiopian warplanes bombed a village, the first attacks reported since last Tuesday in the sporadic fighting over the ill-defined border beween the two countries.

The Eritrean statement said that despite the failure of the international community to deplore such attacks, Eritrea would continue to pursue what was described as a policy of passive defence against Ethiopia.

For its part, Ethiopia has confirmed it carried out an attack on Sunday on the airport at the port of Assab, which handles civilian traffic into Eritrea.

But Ethiopia maintains that it has never bombed civilian areas, while alleging that Eritrea has purposely done so on more than one occasion.

A statement from the Ethiopian Government on Monday said Eritrea should accept the Organisation of African Unity's blueprint for a peaceful resolution, rather than calling on the international community to condemn Ethiopia.

The OAU plan, backed by the United Nations, United States and European Union, calls for the deployment of peacekeepers and neutral delineation of the border

The plan has stalled over a clause demanding that Eritrea withdraw its troops first from positions they occupied in May.