Bure is a small area about west of
Asseb, on the border between
Eritrea
Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...
and
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
, and claimed by both countries. Bure lies across the important
Awash-Asseb highway, which in the past has been an important trucking route.
Bure came under Eritrean control after several weeks of fighting in May–June 1998. Eritrea said that Ethiopia had started an offensive at Bure by dropping bombs on the front-lines on 14 February 1999. The fighting in the area continued through the
Eritrean-Ethiopian War (1998-2000), with each side claiming it had inflicted heavy casualties on the other, until they agreed to a ceasefire.
The Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission determined in 2002 that Bure lay on the Ethiopian side of the border.
Relations between Eritrea and Ethiopia soured in November 2005, when 20 Ethiopian soldiers occupied a portion of the area for several days. After peace-keeping troops from
United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea intervened, Ethiopian troops were withdrawn.
The BBC published on 19 June 2008 a timeline of Eritrea's conflict with Ethiopia to that date and reported that the "Border dispute rumbles on":
BBC News, 19 June 2008
* 2007 September – War could resume between Ethiopia and Eritrea over their border conflict, warns United Nations special envoy to the Horn of Africa,
Kjell Magne Bondevik.
* 2007 November – Eritrea accepts border line demarcated by international boundary commission. Ethiopia rejects it.
* 2008 January – UN extends mandate of peacekeepers on Ethiopia-Eritrea border for six months. UN Security Council demands Eritrea lift fuel restrictions imposed on UN peacekeepers at the Eritrea-Ethiopia border area. Eritrea declines, saying troops must leave border.
* 2008 February – UN begins pulling 1,700-strong peacekeeper force out due to lack of fuel supplies following Eritrean government restrictions.
* 2008 April – UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...
warns of likelihood of new war between Ethiopia and Eritrea if peacekeeping mission withdraws completely. Outlines options for the future of the UN mission in the two countries.
* 2008 May – Eritrea calls on UN to terminate peacekeeping mission.
See also
*
Badme
*
Zalambessa
Zalambessa (Tigrigna: ዛላምበሳ) is a town located in Tigray, Ethiopia. Zalambessa is part of the Misraqawi (Eastern) Zone of the Tigray Region. It is about 42 kilometers north of Adigrat. The Serha-Zalambesa border crossing is located in ...
References
External links
Ethiopians Briefly Occupy Buffer Zone (Washington Post)
Territorial disputes
Afar Region
Geography of Eritrea
Territorial disputes of Eritrea
Territorial disputes of Ethiopia
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