Foreiners and Eritrean-Americans evacuate Asmara. The map falsely claims Alitiena, and also illegally incorporates a chunk of the Dallol area as well as a slice of Djibouti. Despite Eritrea's spending spree to acquire expensive Mig-29s, Ethiopia has taken control of the skies. Superior aircraft and inferior pilots generally equal defeat.
Siege mentality sets in.
Elsewhere, Eritrea denied the loss of Om Hajer while Eritrea and Ethiopia offered conflicting accounts of a small skirmish on the Burie front. Over 200 foreigners and Eritreans with foreign passports left Asmara yesterday but some Eritreans with dual nationality were prevented from leaving by the Eritrean government on grounds that they were eligible for military conscription. Ethiopia said the fronts were quiet today and that the Eritrean army had decided to abandon the Sawa base after repeated bombing by the Ethiopian air force. The current humanitarian crisis in Eritrea is distressing. No one can watch the suffering of innocent civilians without feeling deep sadness.