The Associated Press, 21 October 2007
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia: Ethiopian rebels said Sunday they have killed 140 Ethiopian soldiers in the country's southeast, but the government denied that such an attack took place.
the Ogaden National Liberation Front said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press that about 1,000 fighters attacked Ethiopian troops on Saturday in a southeastern area of Wardher, about 780 kilometers (485 miles) southeast of the capital, Addis Ababa.
"This is just a story created by the ONLF. I don't believe they have killed even one. I don't think it is true. we believe that ONLF is not in a position to make this kind of attack," government spokesman Zemedkun Tekle told The Associated Press.
It was not possible to independently verify the rebel claims because the area where the attack took place is remote.
"This operation was a direct response to the burning of Caado village recently and the continuing abuses against the people of Ogaden by (government) forces in the Wardher area," the rebels' statement said.
The Ogaden National Liberation Front has been fighting for greater autonomy for eastern Ethiopia, which is ethnically Somali. The government accuses the rebels of being terrorists funded by its archenemy Eritrea.
The group dramatically escalated its decade-long insurgency in eastern Ethiopia when in April it attacked a Chinese-owned oil exploration field, killing 74 workers. Until then, it had only made occasional hit-and-run attacks on government troops.
Since that attack, the army has intensified its counterinsurgency operations, during which aid and human rights groups say the military has burned villages and blocked aid and trade into the region. The government denies its forces have committed any violations.
International Herald Tribune
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