| Tsorona-Zalambessa | |
|---|---|
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Tsorona-Zalambessa
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Eritrea Ethiopia |
| Regions of Ethiopia | Tigray |
| Regions of Eritrea | Southern |
| Population (2005) | |
| • Total | 10,551 for Zalambessa |
Tsorona and Zalambessa are two small disputed areas on the border between Eritrea and Ethiopia. Tsorona is 23 km northwest of the larger Zalambessa village. The Eritreans claim both as part of their Debub (Southern) Region, while the Ethiopians claim them as part of the Misraqawi (Eastern) Zone of their Tigray Region.
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Zalambessa was a village that was fortified by Italian colonial forces. The fortifications were taken over by the Ethiopian military in 1952 when Eritrea was federated with Ethiopia. The older village remained under Eritrean Administration and the exact border became an issue in the modern border dispute.[1]
In 2000, Eritrea and Ethiopia signed the Algiers Agreement (2000) which forwarded the border dispute to a Hague boundary commission. In the Agreement both parties agreed in advance to comply with the ruling of the Border Commission. In 2002, the commission ruling, reconfirmed and made more precise in their final ruling effective November 2007, placed Tsorona inside Eritrean territory, and Zalambessa inside Ethiopian territory.
Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah announced in July 2009, during a 3-day visit to Ethiopia, that his country would provide a $63 million loan to Ethiopia, part of which would be used to build a road between Wukro and Zalambessa.[2]
According to the Eritrean Information Ministry, Ethiopian Forces crossed the border early on New Years Day 2010, and engaged in a fierce battle with Eritrean troops before quickly withdrawing back over the border, after having 10 soldiers killed and 2 taken prisoner. Ethiopian government spokesman Bereket Simon denied that any armed incursion had taken place.[3]
Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia released in 2005, Zalambessa has an estimated total population of 10,551, of whom 5,176 are men and 5,375 are women.[4] The 1994 census reported it had a total population of 6,059 of whom 2,756 were males and 3,303 were females. It is not clear whether these census figures cover the entire area.