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Eight Ethiopian soldiers
have defected to Eritrea, Eritrea's government says.
A statement from the information
ministry said the troops had acted in protest at what it described
as Ethiopia's invasion of Somalia.
Analysts fear Somalia could
become a proxy battleground for Ethiopia and Eritrea, who back
opposite sides in the unrest there.
The two countries fought a
border war between 1998-2000 in which more than 70,000 people were
killed.
A peace deal, under which both
countries agreed to a final decision demarcating their shared
border, has faltered because of differences over ownership of a
town.
Unrest is Somalia is
exacerbating tensions between the two sides.
The Ethiopian government backs
Somalia's transitional government, while Eritrea is said to back
an Islamic militia, the Union of Islamic Courts, which now
controls much of the south of the country.
Asmara and Addis Ababa both deny
sending arms and soldiers to Somalia.
Several senior officers, health
professionals and a number of nurses were among the defectors, the
Eritrean ministry said.
The soldiers acted because
troops and health professionals were being imprisoned following
the defection of two Ethiopian generals last month, the report
said.
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