Oganden ONLF denies capture of leading officials
Aug 13, 2006 (ADDIS ABABA) — The Ogaden National Liberation Front has denied the capture by Ethiopian army of ONLF senior officials. The rebel group said Addis Ababa fabricates such false news to reassure the foreign oil firms working in the region.
“The Armed Forces killed 13 and captured many other top officials of the rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front, in an operation launched at eradicating rebel groups who cross into the country from neighboring Somalia.” Abdu Ahmed Arab, deputy head of security and justice for Ethiopia’s Somali region, told Reuters.
“The ONLF wishes to make clear to the international community that while regular armed clashes take place between ONLF forces and EPRDF troops, no recent incident has resulted in the capture of ONLF commanders of any member of the armed forces of the ONLF”, said the ONLF.
The ONLF communiqué didn’t deny the killing of 13 troops by the Ethiopian army. But another pro-ONLF denied the killing and the arrest of the rebel official.
“This reporting is nothing more than a haphazard attempt to flood news and Blogging sites with baseless information of the casualties of a battle that took place only in the hallucinating minds of the autocracy in Addis Ababa”. Said the opposition website.
The opposition website considered the Ethiopian statement as a propaganda to cover the defection of an Ethiopian general to Eritrea last week.
The ONLF is founded in 1984 by the ethnic Somali people of Oganden advocating the right of self determination of the region. It is also member of the Ethiopian Alliance for Freedom and Democracy (AFD).
(ST)