Ogaden rebels claim killing 24 Ethiopian troops

March 8, 2009 (ADDIS ABABA) — The rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) said that it has killed 24 Ethiopian soldiers in a fresh fighting in the volatile Ogaden region located in the eastern part of the country.

In a statement published on Saturday the rebel group said that the fighting which started 4th February is still continuing in the vicinity of Degah Bur in northern Ogaden area in Ethiopia and claimed that they killed 24 Ethiopian soldiers in the fighting . He further accused the Ethiopian troops of hanging by hands 6 civilians.

However the ONLF rebels didn’t disclose the number of causalities among their ranks.

The group also said its fighters captured the staging ground and an arms depot belonging to the Ethiopian unit operating near Degah Bur.

Unconfirmed reports from the region say the fighting still continuing and the rival forces are using heavy weapons which could be heard all directions in the region.

However there are no independent sources that confirm the rebel claims.

ONLF accuses the Ethiopian army of killing civilians, taking livestock’s and setting villages on fire in military operations also using helicopters.

Ethiopia has repeatedly rejected all charges also plays down attack claims made by the Ogaden rebel.

ONLF was formed in 1984 in ethnical Somali region on Ethiopia’s border with Somalia. Its aims have varied between full-scale independence to joining a “Greater Somalia” to more autonomy within Ethiopia for a region it says is neglected.

Addis Ababa used to accuse its Horn of Africa foe Eritrea of supporting the Ogaden rebels and hold them responsible for a number of attacks.

(ST)