Ogaden National Liberation Front
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Image:ONLF flag.svg
Flag of the ONLF
The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) (Amharic: ኦጋደን፡ ብሔራዊ፡፡ነጽነት፡ግንባር?)(Somali: Jahbadda Wadaniga Xoreenta Ogadenia, JWXO), is a separatist rebel group fighting to make the region of Ogaden in eastern Ethiopia an independent state. Because Ogaden is populated by many ethnic Somalis, the ONLF claims that Ethiopia is an occupying government. However the Ogaden people are represented in the Ethiopian government, including by the opposition party SPDP - Somali Peoples Democratic Party. The ONLF is composed mainly of members of the Ogaden clan. The armed wing of the ONLF is the Ogaden National Liberation Army (ONLA). Some analysts argue that the OHRC, a human rights organization controlled by ONLF supporters, is its diplomatic wing, assisting ONLF's foreign relations with western countries.[1] Generally, ONLF is designated a terrorist group by the Ethiopian government, although the other countries do not accept that designation.
HistoryImage:Somali land 2007 05 18.png
Territories inhabited by ethnic Somalis. Area of ONLF operations, as of May 2007, shaded in red within the green area marking Ethiopian territory.
Founded in 1984 by Abdirahman Mahdi, the Chairman of the Western Somali Liberation Movement Youth Union, Mohamed Ismail Omar (WSLF), Sh. Ibrahim Abdalla (WSLF), Abdi Ibrahim Geelle (WSLF-Trade Union), Abdirahman Yusuf Magan (WSLF) and Abdullahi Muhumed Sa'di-all (WSLF), Sulub Ali Abas (ONLF faction) and hidden members from different Somali separatists factions, the ONLF is currently led by Chairman Mohamed O. Osman. The ONLF fought against the Derg, the military dictatorship of Mengistu Haile Mariam, but was not allied to the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the guerrilla movement led by Ethiopia's current prime minister, Meles Zenawi.[2] ONLF was formed after the defeat of Somalia in the 1977 Ogaden War. ONLF systematically recruited Western Somali Liberation Front(WSLF) members and replaced WSLF in the Ogaden as the WSLF support from Somalia dwindled and finally dried up in the late eighties. By 1993 ONLF fully consolidated its position among ethnic Somalis in Ogaden. After the Mengistu regime fell, the ONLF joined the government but then left it when the Meles government launched its crackdown against the group in 1993 for advocating substantial autonomy or independence, both of which were permitted under Ethiopia's new constitution. [3] The ONLF announced elections in December 1992 for the Somali District Five in Ethiopia, and won 80% of the seats of the local parliament. ONLF nominated the candidates for the district's presidency and vice-presidency and the Executive body and the parliament elected them in a majority vote. ONLF elected officials ruled the territory until the end of the charter period. Afterwards, the Ethiopian government pushed for a constitution since the former was a transitional period. In addition to ONLF there were/are other parties including SPDP - Somali Peoples Democratic Party - which eventually won more seats and became politically dominant. The Ethiopian government was then accused by ONLF of suppressing its members, while ONLF was accused of killing other Somali politicians and elders. Around 1995, ONLF's diplomatic wing well known as Ogaden Human Rights Committee (OHRC) was established. [4] This human rights organization, widely regarded as being partisan, also uses its connections to demand international condemnation of all government reactions to ONLF's insurgency.[5][6] The ONLF continues to operate in the Ogaden as of 2006. The Ethiopian military has stepped up its actions against ONLF following the organizations stated that it would attack the Malaysian oil company Petronas, which plans to extract oil from the Ogaden Basin. Even though there are some developments including a new university in the Somali state region, new schools, hospital and Somali language television programs, full development has been restrained in the area because of the fighting between ONLF and government forces. Due to the nomadic nature of the natives and due to the ONLF insurgency, the Ethiopian government is said to spend very high amount of budget for the infrastructure development of the Ogaden region despite the government getting proportionally very low tax revenue from the locals.[7] In 2005 Ethiopia proposed peace talks with ONLF. ONLF accepted on the condition that talks be held in a neutral country and with the presence of a neutral arbiter from the international community, but the talks broke down due to Ethiopia's insistence that the two parties meet directly in a location in or around the Horn of Africa. ONLF became a part of the Alliance for Freedom and Democracy on May 22 2006 but the alliance has not achieved any progress since its creation.[8] On 12 August, 2006, 13 members of the ONLF were killed and several commanders were claimed captured as they crossed into Ethiopia from Somalia.[9] The ONLF repudiated this claim, stating that it was intended to reassure prospective oil prospecting companies from Malaysia and China that Ethiopia is in control of the Ogaden territory.[10] Ogadenia confusionThe ONLF mostly recruits from the Ogaden subclan, which constitutes roughly half of the regional population.[11] Some maps generally label the area or, in some instances, the entire Somali Region with "Ogadēn".[11][12][13][14] However, many other Somali clans and sub-clans reside in the area, and animosity between the pro-ONLF Ogadenis and other Somalis in the area remains very deeply rooted.[11] The Ethiopian government has exploited these rivalries by arming local Somali militias to fight the ONLF.[11] Yet, the ONLF also claims ownership of other clan territories and uses the word "Ogadenia,"[citation needed] igniting clan hegemony accusations[attribution needed] from other Somali clans. Writer Mohamed Mohamud Abdi states that the territory has been under occupation since the Scramble for Africa, and that the inhabitants have been unable to choose their own name for the land.[15] Effects on Ethiopia and the Somali Civil WarOn November 28, 2006, the ONLF threatened that it would not allow Ethiopian troops to stage into Somalia from their territories.[16] On December 23, the ONLF claimed to have attacked an Ethiopian column near Baraajisale heading to Somalia, destroying 4 of 20 vehicles, inflicting casualties and driving the convoy back.[17] But no independent sources confirmed the attack. on January 10, 2007, ONLF condemned Ethiopia's entry into the War in Somalia (2006-present), stating that Melez Zenawi's invasion of Somalia demonstrates that his government has been an active participant in the Somali conflict with a clear agenda aimed at undermining the Somali sovereignty.[18] However the Somalia government thanked the Ethiopian government for its assistance in Mogadishu. On January 15, ONLF rebels attacked Ethiopian soldiers in Kebri Dahar, Gerbo, and Fiq. Five Ethiopian soldiers and one ONLF rebel have been reported killed.[19] According to the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Tribune, "As of 2007, human-rights groups and media reports accuse Ethiopia -- a key partner in Washington's battle against terrorism in the volatile Horn of Africa -- of burning villages, pushing nomads off their lands and choking off food supplies in a harsh new campaign of collective punishment against a restive ethnic Somali population in the Ogaden, a vast wilderness of rocks and thorns bordering chaotic Somalia"[20] However the United Nations said the reports of aid blockade were completely wrong. The United Nations' WFP said it "does not consider the government is blockading the Somali region" and said that distributions of WFP food are under way in all vital regions. Yet, the UN also said that military operations in the area have restricted commercial trade and the movement of aid, which could lead to a humanitarian crisis.[21]. A tightly restricted and surveillanced recent tour by western journalist in the embattled region on the invitation of the regional administration reported on more alleged crimes by the Ethiopian government, a report by newsweek detailed how Ethiopian military troops stormed a village southeast of degahbur a dusty market town alleging they sympathise with the ONLF razing the village they tortured and murdered, some hung from trees others murdered in various methods. Residents told of being caught in the middle of a war between rebels and the Ethiopian goverment[22]. Abole Raid, subsequent conflictOn April 24, 2007, members of the ONLF attacked a Chinese-run oil field in Abole, Somali Region, killing approximately 65 Ethiopians and 9 Chinese nationals.[23] The ONLF claimed it had "completely destroyed" the oilfield.[18] Most of the Ethiopians killed in the attack were daily laborers, guards and other support staff. Some members of the Ethiopian security officials were also killed during the surprise attack however those killed by the ONLF included 30 civilians.[24] It was the most deadly single attack by the ONLF.[25] On April 27, Ethiopian government spokesperson reported that ONLF rebels had detonated a "grenade," killing one person who was attending a funeral of family member killed during the prior attack.[26] Shortly after the attack, the Ethiopian Army launched a military crackdown in Ogaden. Somali deathsIn May 2007, a grenade attack by ONLF rebels in the Somali region of Ethiopia claimed the lives of at least 11 Somalis.[27] During a national holiday ceremony held at the Ogaden town of Jijiga, the grenade thrown at the podium of the stadium also wounded Somali regional president Abdulahi Hassan Mohammed in the leg.[28] A government advisor blamed both the ONLF and said that Eritrea is responsible since it arms the ONLF. However the ONLF denied the accusations. [29] The bombing triggered a huge stampede in the stadium which led to the death of around six children.[30] Various Somalis, who are native to the Ogaden region, have always blamed the ONLF for killing their own people and assassinating Somali leaders.[31] Other ONLF attacksAn ONLF grenade attack on a cultural gathering in Jijiga killed four middle school students in May 28, 2007.[32] In a separate attack, fifty civilians were injured, including the regional president Abdullahi Hassan, and three artists were killed in May 28, 2007 by the ONLF.[33] An ONLF attack on the town of the Dobaweyn woreda in the Korahe Zone also left ten civilians dead, including two schoolteachers and a pregnant woman.[34] Another attack on the town of Shilavo left five civilians dead.[35] An ONLF-planted landmine near Aware in Dagahbour region exploded, killing three civilians traveling in automobile.[36] Yet another ONLF unit struck in the district of Lahelow near the Ethiopia-Somalia border, targeting members of the Isma'il Gum'adle sub-clan, twelve of whom were slain.[37] In a two months span after November 2007, around 200 civilians have been killed by ONLF, according to VOA reports.[38][39] Notes and references
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