Federal troops have attacked the old Eastern Region in an effort to bring down the Biafran government of Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu. According to an announcement by Radio Nigeria Friday night, Maj. Gen. Yakubu Gowon, the federal military ruler, issued his orders for an invasion only after Eastern troops fired at federal troops along the northern border of Biafra. The federal announcement confirmed an earlier broadcast by Radio Biafra that a federal offensive had begun. The Biafrans claimed they had driven the federal troops back across the border. But the federal government, in turn, claimed its troops had penetrated Biafra and inflicted heavy casualties on the secessionist troops. Ironically, the fighting erupted on the eve of two major attempts to bring a peaceful settlement to the Nigerian crisis...

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