90 Ethiopian Prisoners of War Arrive in Addis Ababa From EritreaNinety Ethiopian prisoners of war (POWs), released by the Eritrean government, flew in Addis Ababa early Saturday afternoon hours after Ethiopia released 97 Eritrean POWs in the morning.A welcome ceremony with the participation of guards of honor and a military band was held at Bole International Airport. Addressing the ceremony, Brigadier General of Ethiopian National Defense Force Assaminew Bedane spoke highly of Ethiopian soldiers' brave fighting at the warfront, and expressed welcome to the Ethiopian POWs to return home. Of the 90 Ethiopian returnees, 52 were soldiers and the rest were policemen and militias before they were captured by Eritrean troops, an informed source said. There were dozens either heavily or slightly wounded among the returnees. A few of them, lying on stretchers, were carried off the plane by officials of the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC), which is organizing the whole process of the repatriation. All the POWs were sent immediately to a military hospital in Addis Ababa to have physical check-up after the ceremony. "They will be admitted in the hospital as patients," a senior Ethiopian government official said. According to ICRC officials, another batch of Ethiopian POWs, 140, are due to arrive here later in the day. 130 more of them will be back to Addis Ababa on Sunday. Following the release of the first bath of Eritrean POWs Saturday morning, 129 more of them will also leave here for Asmara, capital of Eritrea, later in the day. The release of the third batch of Eritrean POWs, also 129, will take place on Sunday, ICRC officials said. |
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