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Both landlocked Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea (on the Red Sea), feuding
over currency and trade issues, laid claim to a 150-square mile border region
known as Badame in northern Ethiopia. There on May 6, 1998, fighting erupted
between Eritrean and Ethiopian troops, and within a month both sides were
exchanging artillery and tank fire. Eritrean aircraft bombed the northern
Ethiopian towns of Adigrat and Mekele, while ground troops clashed on three
fronts (one close to the Red Sea). Ethiopia retaliated with air strikes on
Eritrea's capital, Asmara. By late June 1998, the intense fighting had killed
hundreds of people (many were civilians), and diplomatic peace efforts by the
United States and Rwanda floundered; both sides finally accepted a proposal to
halt air raids, but in October 1998, they were moving men and arms to the
border. In February 1999, serious fighting resumed, involving artillery, tanks,
ground troops, and warplanes, over the claims of both countries to Badame; both
sides suffered heavy losses, with Ethiopia claiming "significant
victories," which Eritrea disclaimed.
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