31 JANUARY 1936, Page 3

The Tembien battle remains for the moment a paper victory

for both sides. • The facts, as nearly as they can he discovered, are that an attempt by the Italians to fore- stall a blow at their right flank north-west of Makalle led to a battle of encounter—almost the first of the war—in which both sides suffered heavy casualties and neither achieved its full purpose. Here the Abyssinian claim to have taken 10 guns and 100 machine-guns must be accepted with great reserve until reliable confirmation is received. If it proves to be even approximately correct, the threat to the Italian line of communications is a very serious one and their hold on Makalle extremely precarious.

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