Ethiopia says killed 23 Eritrean-backed rebels

ADDIS ABABA, April 3 (Reuters) - Ethiopian soldiers have killed 23 Eritrean-backed rebels, captured 18, and received the surrender of 112 more, the state news agency said on Tuesday.

"The 23 rebels engaged in proxy war coordinated by the Eritrean government were killed in gunfire with the army in Armacheo district of the northern Gondar region," Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) said, quoting a regional official.

Ethiopia, the major military power in the Horn of Africa, has frequently accused its smaller neighbour Eritrea of backing, arming and harbouring a variety of insurgents.

Eritrea, which fought a 1998-2000 border war with Ethiopia, says Addis Ababa invents such accusations to justify oppression of its people and belligerence to Asmara. It denies backing rebels and routinely labels Ethiopian accusations as lies.

ENA named the rebel group as the Patriotic Front.

"Some 112 former rebels of the Patriotic Front operating in the same region gave up themselves to authorities voluntarily, while 18 others captured in action were detained," it added.

It was not clear when the operations took place, and officials could not be reached to give that information.

"The rebels were trained and armed by the Eritrean government before they were infiltrated into northern Ethiopia to destabilize the region by robbing transport buses, and disrupt economic development," ENA added.

The 112 rebels who surrendered have expressed remorse and were allowed to rejoin their farmsteads, the agency said.