Ethiopian Rebel Group Claims Dozens Of Ethiopian Soldiers Killed
Jig-jiga, Ethiopia (AHN) – The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) on Friday said its fighters have engaged multiple battles with Ethiopian military forces in parts of a mainly ethnic Somali province in eastern Ethiopia, killing more than 35 soldiers.
A statement posted on the ONLF website said their fighters battled with the Ethiopian soldiers in Degahbur areas between Tuesday and Thursday. “They lost 35 soldiers in the operation, with many wounded,” it said. “This operation was to disrupt the Ethiopian government’s new strategy of final solution-style, evicting people from their habitat and confiscating their properties then taking them to killing centers in Jigjiga Ogaden Jail and beyond. Such centers are usually military camps or secret detention camps where people are inhumanely tortured.”
This statement comes two weeks weeks after an ONLF faction led by Adm. Mohammed Omar Osman said Ethiopian military forces killed 235 Somali civilians in a mainly ethnic Somali province in eastern Ethiopia. Ethiopian government spokesman Shimeles Kemal at that time described the statement as false, adding that no evidence of the deaths was offered by ONLF.
The rebel group split into two factions after some of its members signed a deal with Ethiopia last month. The government said the peace deal is aimed at ending 20 years of war with a guerilla faction that has been fighting for liberation of the Ogaden region in eastern Ethiopia.
Ethiopia wants to begin oil exploration projects in the mainly ethnic Somali province in eastern Ethiopia that is said to be rich with oil. In April 2007, nine Chinese workers who were exploring oil in the region along with a number of Ethiopian guards were killed by separatists in an ambush attack.
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