ETHIOPIA: A Little Help from Some Friends

On a trip last month to Ethiopia, to cover the fourth anniversary of the Marxist regime's military coup, French Photographer Bernard Couret was allowed to visit Harar province, the scene of heavy fighting in last year's Ogaden war against Somali invaders. Couret photographed military maneuvers in the area and came away with the first pictures that provide the West with documentary evidence of the substantial Soviet and Cuban presence in Ethiopia. Western intelligence sources estimate that there are perhaps 9,000 Cubans in Ogaden. Another 2,000 to 4,000 are assisting the Ethiopians in a bloody war against Marxist guerrillas in Eritrea province. Russian advisers and technicians number perhaps 1,000. Their task: training Addis Ababa's forces to use such sophisticated weapons as MiG-21 fighters and T-62 tanks—all provided by Moscow. The Cubans in addition have suffered 5,000 casualties, mostly against Somalia in the Ogaden.