Insurgency in Ogaden

Insurgency in Ogaden
Part of the conflicts in the Horn of Africa
A column of ONLF rebels, October 8, 2006. (Photo by Jonathan Alpeyrie)
Date 1995 - 2008 Location Somali region (Ethiopia) Status Media blockade in the region by Ethiopia government. Ethiopian government defeat of ONLF forces militarily, with small groups targetting NGOs and citizens in banditry attacks. Instability on a criminal area continues in the region.
Belligerents
Ethiopia	File:ONLF flag.svg Ogaden National Liberation Front
Commanders and leaders
Meles Zenawi Kuma Demeksa Siraj Fergessa Negasso Gidada Girma Wolde-Giorgis Samora Yunis	File:ONLF flag.svg Mohamed Sirad Dolal † File:ONLF flag.svg Mohammed Omar Osman
Casualties and losses
5,000[citation needed]	1,500 fatalities[citation needed]
2,000 civilians fatalities[citation needed]

The insurgency in Ogaden, waged by the separatist Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) in Ethiopia's Somali region, began in 1995 and ended in 2008.^{[citation needed]} Originally an accepted political party which contributed three Presidents of the Somali Region after the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front expelled them from power, the ONLF began a guerrilla war to promote their goals. For many years, the remoteness of the Somali Region led to the conflict being ignored by the international media, until several high-profile attacks in 2007: the attack on the Chinese oil site at Abole and attacks in Jigjiga and Dhagahbur.

See also

• Ethiopian Civil War
• Red Terror (Ethiopia)
• Ogaden War
• War in Somalia (2006–2009)
• 2007–2008 Ethiopian crackdown in Ogaden

Further reading

• Ethiopia: Crackdown in East Punishes Civilians, Human Rights Watch, July 4, 2007.
• Ogaden Crackdown Carries High Cost, Inter Press Service News Agency, July 5, 2007
• Collective Punishment: War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity in the Ogaden area of Ethiopia’s Somali Region, Human Rights Watch, June 2008
• Gettleman, Jeffrey (2007-04-24). "Ethiopian Rebels Kill 70 at Chinese-Run Oil Field". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/24/world/africa/24cnd-ethiopia.html?hp. Retrieved 2007-04-24. 
• Ethiopia:Oil companies suspend operations, Garowe Online, Apr 28, 2007
• "Chinese workers freed in Ethiopia". BBC News, 29 April 2007. April 29, 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6605561.stm. Retrieved January 5, 2010. 
• "Collective Punishment: War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity in the Ogaden area of Ethiopia’s Somali Region". Human Rights Watch. http://hrw.org/reports/2008/ethiopia0608/9.htm#_Toc200167135. 
• Ethiopia Ogaden crisis, Reuters AlertNet, 1 December 2007.
• Sanders, Edmund. "Ethiopia war gets little attention," Los Angeles Times, March 23, 2008.
• "Somalia: Ethiopia Denies as Massacre Continues in Ogaden"
• Ethiopian Rebel Group Denies Support From Eritrea, VOA, April 25, 2007
• http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Africa_22/Somalia_Ethiopia_rebel_group_ONLF_splits_into_two_factions.shtml

External links

• Ogaden Today