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AFRICAN CAMPAIGN.
APPROACH TO ADDIS ABABA.
FORT BURYE CAPTURED.
Abyssinian Patriots' Success.
LONDON, March 5.— Today's com-
munique from the British General Head-
quarters in Cairo announced an out-
standing success by the Abyssinian patriot
forces. The communique read: "Yester-
day, in the Gojjam province, Abyssinian
forces captured the important Italian
fort of Burye (70 miles south of Lake
Tsana and 120 miles north-west of Addis
Ababa). The patriot army is now haras-
sing Italian troops retreating towards
Debra Markos (south-east of Burye, on
the main road to Addis Ababa)."
The communique added that 1,500
Italian regular troops and 200 colonial
troops had deserted with their weapons
and joined the Abyssinian patriots.
Elsewhere in Africa, the communique
said, there was nothing to report. A Royal
Air Force communique said that British
bombers and fighting aircraft were giving
support to the troops on all fronts.
The Fall of Kufra.
Referring to the capture by Free
French forces last Saturday of the big
Italian desert base of Kufra in Libya
(about 200 miles west of the Egyptian
border and about 500 miles south of the
Mediterranean coast), a military spokes-
man in Cairo declared last night that an
immediate problem of the victors was
how to dispose of their 1,000 prisoners.
It would be a difficult task to transport
them across the desert. Therefore, they
would possibly be disarmed and released
in Kufra.
The Free French authorities in Cairo
disclose that Kufra was captured against
vastly superior numbers. In order to
complete the operations which resulted
in the capture of Kufra, the Free French
forces marched 500 miles from a desert
base and made their first contact with
the Italian garrison early in February,
after which an enemy counter-attack was
heavily repulsed.
A Rome message says that it is re-
ported by the Tripoli correspondent of the
Stefani newsagency that the Italian
garrison at Kufra, a few minutes before
their surrender, made the following dra-
matic broadcast:— "We are overwhelmed
by our enemies. Long live the King
Emperor. Long live the Duce. May Italy
always be victorious." The correspondent
adds:— "Thirty-five days' bitter fighting
preceded the fall of Kufra. Brisk artil-
lery fire met the first attack, after which
the Italians successfully counter-attacked
and captured prisoners, including a bat-
talion commander. Kufra was attacked
again on the night of February 7 and
again on February 17. The attackers,
considerably reinforced, encircled the
garrison on February 23 and opened an
intensive bombardment. The Italians,
nevertheless, continued to hold off the
enemy, until ever-increasing attacks made
further resistance hopeless.
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