Sources inform Gedab News that ships loaded with arms cargo have been arriving from Pakistan and former Soviet Union states like Ukraine and docking in Massawa.

President Isaias Afwerki is reportedly personally supervising the unloading of the docks.

It is unclear whether the regime is arming in anticipation of an attack by Ethiopia or whether it intends to escalate its long-standing border feud with Ethiopia into a military confrontation.

The regime has also been accused of being the conduit for arming Somalia's Union of Islamic Courts (UIC.)

Meanwhile, in further sign that the Eritrean regime is experiencing a cash crunch, it has introduced another pretext to raise funds for special projects. People who fail to make the “voluntary contribution” are being denied their rations of basic necessities like lentil, oil and sugar which are distributed at the government-run Rit’awi Dukan  [“fair priced shops.”]

In keeping with this new directive, residents in Asmara have been asked to donate cash for building a clinic in the Tiravolo neighborhood and Dekemhare residents have been ordered by the mayor, “Wedi Gulay”, to raise funds for the March 8^th celebrations. The ordered amount is fixed and not means-tested and residents of limited means have been complaining bitterly.