Fighting involving heavy artillery began around 5 a.m. and continued until at least early afternoon, the Addis Ababa-based website said.
The incident could be an effort by the Eritrean government to distract attention from a June 8 United Nations report that said its leaders committed crimes against humanity, Getachew Reda, Ethiopia’s communications minister, said by phone from Frankfurt.
Eritrea’s Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment made on Twitter Inc.
Eritrea, a former province of its neighbor, fought a two-year war with Ethiopia that formally ended in 2000, although its government has maintained war-time controls such as requiring national service and suspended enactment of a constitution.
