Radio Erena: 27 Januray 2015
Raids continue in the Eritrean capital of Asmara and other towns to hunt ‘deserting’ members of the graduating batch of the 27th round of Sawa military trainees and the defiant members of the People’s army.
The news that has been confirmed by Radio Erena sources pointed out the raid campaign has been carried out for the last week and that most of the target members of the 27th round batch are believed to have crossed over to neighboring countries.
According to the sources, authorities in the local area of Paradiso in the capital executed door-to-door searches accompanied by police and that they had put mothers, who refuse to surrender their children, in police custody for short time and threatened them.
The raid is also aimed at members of the defense forces who didn’t return to their assignments – otherwise known as ‘deserters’ by the government. The sources noted that the people in Eritrea are used to the raids and forceful conscription that has been going on for the last 15 years.
Our sources further confirmed that most of the members of the people’s army – aged 40-60 are believed to have reported to the military training camp of Mai Lam for fear of endangering their families in response to repeated calls and threats by local and government authorities.
Although the government is promising that the training for the people’s army is going to last for a month, people are showing doubts that the promises would be kept based on previous experiences with the government.
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