Extra-Ordinary Rendition Of Ogaden Refugees By Djibouti To Ethiopia

The following is an official press release from the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF).
 

Extra-Ordinary Rendition Of Ogaden Refugees By Djibouti To Ethiopia
Source:  Ogaden National Liberation Front
February 3, 2011

PRESS RELEASE

The Djibouti government, in collaboration with Ethiopian security forces, has executed a Gestapo style operation resulting in the arrest and the extra-ordinary rendition to Ethiopia of nearly one hundred Ogaden refugees and legal residents living in Djibouti. This operation began on January 20, 2011, when Djibouti police joined by Ethiopian security officials raided more than thirty homes, businesses and workplaces in Djibouti City.

This joint operation forcefully detained ethnic Somalis from Ogaden and took them to a military camp on the outskirts of the city of Djibouti where they were placed on military trucks on the 23rd of January and taken to an unknown destination in Ethiopia.

Sources from Djibouti security confirmed that several detainees died from torture during their detention in Djibouti. The whereabouts of the rest these victims is now unknown even to their families.

Throughout this sweep up, Djibouti police specifically targeted Somalis from Ogaden in what was clearly a well-planned and deliberate operation resulting from what appears to be a new security arrangement between Ethiopia and Djibouti.

The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) has sought to address this Gestapo style operation through Diplomatic channels, but the Djibouti government unashamedly resorted to fabricating fictitious plots purportedly committed by these innocent refugees and residents under its legal and moral protection.

The Djibouti regime has breached both the African Charter and international conventions on the rights of refugees. By doing Ethiopia’s bidding, the government of Djibouti has acted irresponsibly and recklessly. Those refugees and legal residents from Ogaden swept up and extradited to Ethiopia by the Djiboutian regime have a clear and well-founded fear of persecution in Ethiopia. The fate of those individuals is therefore the responsibility of the Djiboutian government.

The Ogaden National Liberation Front condemns this heinous crime and calls on the international community to hold the government of Djibouti and the Ethiopian regime to account.

The Ogaden National Liberation Front has sacrificed for the past sixteen years some of its most strategic interests in order to safeguard the National security of Djibouti due to the brotherly ties between the people of Djibouti and the people of Ogaden.

This act represents a clear indication that the Djibouti government does not value the relations of our two respective people.

As such, the message of ONLF to the Djiboutian government is that Ogaden people’s struggle will not be intimidated with ill advised and misguided acts of such as this extradition of our people. These acts will only increase the determination of the people of Ogaden to continue their legitimate struggle for self-determination.

Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF)

[End.]
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The Balkanization of Sudan: The Redrawing of the Middle East and North Africa

The following commentary is reprinted with permission from Global Research.

The Balkanization of Sudan:  The Redrawing of the Middle East and North Africa
©  Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya
Source:  Global Research
January 16, 2011

Sudan is a diverse nation and a country that represents the plurality of Africa through various tribes, clans, ethnicities, and religious groups. Yet the unity of Sudan is in question, while there is talk of unifying nations and of one day creating a United States of Africa through the African Union.

The limelight is on the January 2011 referendum in South Sudan. The Obama Administration has formally announced that it supports the separation of South Sudan from the rest of Sudan.

The balkanization of Sudan is what is really at stake. For years the leaders and officials of South Sudan have been supported by America and the European Union.

The Politically-Motivated Demonization of Sudan

A major demonization campaign has been underway against Sudan and its government. True, the Sudanese government in Khartoum has had a bad track record in regards to human rights and state corruption, and nothing could justify this.

In regards to Sudan, selective or targeted condemnation has been at work. One should, nonetheless, ask why the Sudanese leadership has been targeted by the U.S. and E.U., while the human rights records of several U.S. sponsored client states including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the U.A.E., and Ethiopia are casually ignored.

Khartoum has been vilified as a autocratic oligarchy guilty of targeted genocide in both Darfour and South Sudan. This deliberate focus on the bloodshed and instability in Darfour and South Sudan is political and motivated by Khartoum’s ties to Chinese oil interests.

Sudan supplies China with a substantial amount of oil. The geo-political rivalry between China and the U.S. for control of African and global energy supplies is the real reason for the chastisement of Sudan and the strong support shown by the U.S., the E.U., and Israeli officials for the seccession of South Sudan.

It is in this context that Chinese interests have been attacked. This includes the October 2006 attack on the Greater Nile Petroleum Company in Defra, Kordofan by the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) militia.

Distorting the Violence in Sudan

While there is a humanitarian crisis in Darfour and a surge in regional nationalism in South Sudan, the underlying causes of the conflict have been manipulated and distorted.

The underlying causes for the humanitarian crisis in Darfour and the regionalism in South Sudan are intimately related to economic and strategic interests. If anything, lawlessness and economic woes are the real issues, which have been fuelled by outside forces.

Either directly or through proxies in Africa, the U.S., the E.U., and Israel are the main architects behind the fighting and instability in both Darfour and South Sudan. These outside powers have assisted in the training, financing, and arming of the militias and forces opposed to the Sudanese government within Sudan. They lay the blame squarely on Khartoum’s shoulders for any violence while they themselves fuel conflict in order to move in and control the energy resources of Sudan. The division of Sudan into several states is part of this objective. Support of the JEM, the South Sudan Liberation Army (SSLA), and other militias opposed to the Sudanese government by the U.S., the E.U., and Israel has been geared towards achieving the objective of dividing Sudan.

It is also no coincidence that for years the U.S., Britain, France, and the entire E.U. under the pretext of humanitarianism have been pushing for the deployment of foreign troops in Sudan. They have actively pushed for the deployment of NATO troops in Sudan under the cover of a U.N. peacekeeping mandate.

This is a re-enactment of the same procedures used by the U.S. and E.U. in other regions where countries have either formally or informally been divided and their economies restructured by foreign-installed proxy governments under the presence of foreign troops. This is what happened in the former Yugoslavia (through the creation of several new republics) and in Anglo-American occupied Iraq (through soft balkanization via a calculated form of federalism aimed at establishing a weak and de-centralized state). Foreign troops and a foreign presence have provided the cloud for state dismantlement and the foreign takeover of state infrastructure, resources, and economies.

The Question of Identity in Sudan

While the Sudanese state has been portrayed as being oppressive towards the people in South Sudan, it should be noted that both the referendum and the power sharing structure of the Sudanese government portray something else. The power sharing agreement in Khartoum between Omar Al-Basher, the president of Sudan, includes the SPLM. The leader of the SPLM, Salva Kiir Mayardit, is the First Vice-President of Sudan and the President of South Sudan.

The issue of ethnicity has also been brought to the forefront of the regional or ethno-regional nationalism that has been cultivated in South Sudan. The cleavage in Sudan between so-called Arab Sudanese and so-called African Sudanese has been presented to the outside world as the major force for the regional nationalism motivating calls for statehood in South Sudan. Over the years this self-differentiation has been diffused and socialized into the collective psyche of the people of South Sudan.

Yet, the difference between so-called Arab Sudanese and so-called African Sudanese are not that great. The Arab identity of so-called Sudanese Arabs is based primarily on their use of the Arabic language. Let us even assume that both Sudanese ethnic identities are totally separate. It is still widely known in Sudan that both groups are very mixed. The other difference between South Sudan and the rest of Sudan is that Islam predominates in the rest of Sudan and not in South Sudan. Both groups are still deeply tied to one another, except for a sense of self-identification, which they are well in their rights to have. Yet, it is these different identities that have been played upon by local leaders and outside powers.

Neglect of the local population of different regions by the elites of Sudan is what the root cause of anxiety or animosity between people in South Sudan and the Khartoum government are really based on and not differences between so-called Arab and so-called African Sudanese.

Regional favouritism has been at work in South Sudan.

The issue is also compounded by social class. The people of South Sudan believe that their economic status and standards of living will improve if they form a new republic. The government in Khartoum and non-Southerner Sudanese have been used as the scapegoats for the economic miseries of the people of South Sudan and their perceptions of relative poverty by the local leadership of South Sudan. In reality, the local officials of South Sudan will not improve the living standards of the people of South Sudan, but maintain a klepocratic status quo. [1]

The Long-Standing Project to Balkanize Sudan and its links to the Arab World

In reality, the balkanization project in Sudan has been going on since the end of British colonial rule in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. Sudan and Egypt were one country during many different periods. Both Egypt and Sudan were also one country in practice until 1956.

Up until the independence of Sudan, there was a strong movement to keep Egypt and Sudan united as a single Arab state, which was struggling against British interests. London, however, fuelled Sudanese regionalism against Egypt in the same manner that regionalism has been at work in South Sudan against the rest of Sudan. The Egyptian government was depicted in the same way as present-day Khartoum. Egyptians were portrayed as exploiting the Sudanese just as how the non-Southern Sudanese have been portrayed as exploiting the South Sudanese.

After the British invasion of Egypt and Sudan, the British also managed to keep their troops stationed in Sudan. Even while working to divide Sudan from Egypt, the British worked to create internal differentations between South Sudan and the rest of Sudan. This was done through the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium, from 1899 to 1956, which forced Egypt to share Sudan with Britain after the Mahdist Revolts. Eventually the Egyptian government would come to refuse to recognize the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium as legal. Cairo would continously ask the British to end their illegal military occupation of Sudan and to stop preventing the re-integration of Egypt and Sudan, but the British would refuse.

It would be under the presence of British troops that Sudan would declare itself independent. This is what lead to the emergence of Sudan as a separate Arab and African state from Egypt. Thus, the balkanization process started with the division of Sudan from Egypt.

The Yinon Plan at work in Sudan and the Middle East

The balkanization of Sudan is also tied to the Yinon Plan, which is a continuation of British stratagem. The strategic objective of the Yinon Plan is to ensure Israeli superority through the balkanization of the Middle Eastern and Arab states into smaller and weaker states. It is in this context that Israel has been deeply involved in Sudan.

Israeli strategists viewed Iraq as their biggest strategic challenge from an Arab state. This is why Iraq was outlined as the centre piece to the balkanization of the Middle East and the Arab World. The Atlantic in this context published an article in 2008 by Jeffrey Goldberg called “After Iraq: What Will the Middle East Look Like?” [2] In the Goldberg article a map of the Middle East was presented that closely followed the outline of the Yinon Plan and the map of a future Middle East presented by Lieutentant-Colonel (retired) Ralph Peters in the U.S military’s Armed Forces Journal in 2006.

It is also no coincidence that aside from a divided Iraq a divided Sudan was shown on the map. Lebanon, Iran, Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Somalia, Pakistan, and Afghanistan were also presented as divided nations too. Of importance to East Africa in the map, illustrated by Holly Lindem for Goldberg’s article, Eriteria is occupied by Ethiopia, which is a U.S. and Israeli ally, and Somalia is divided into Somaliland, Puntland, and a smaller Somalia.

In Iraq, on the basis of the concepts of the Yinon Plan, Israeli strategists have called for the division of Iraq into a Kurdish state and two Arab states, one for Shiite Muslims and the other for Sunni Muslims. This has been achieved through the soft balkanization of federalism in Iraq, which has allowed the Kurdistan Regional Government to negotiate with foreign oil corporations on its own. The first step towards establishing this was a war between Iraq and Iran, which is discussed in the Yinon Plan.

In Lebanon, Israel has been working to exasparate sectarian tensions between the various Christian and Muslim factions as well as the Druze. The division of Lebanon into several states is also seen as a means of balkanizing Syria into several smaller sectarian Arab states. The objectives of the Yinon Plan is to divide Lebanon and Syria into several states on the basis of religious and sectarian identities for Sunni Muslims, Shiite Muslims, Christians, and the Druze.

In this regard, the Hariri Assasination and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) have been playing out to the favour of Israel in creating internal divisions within Lebanon and fuelling politically-motivated sectarianism. This is why Tel Aviv has been very vocal about the STL and very supportive of it. In a clear sign of the politized nature of the STL and its ties to geo-politics, the U.S. and Britain have also given the STL millions of dollars.

The Links between the Attacks on the Egyptian Copts and the South Sudan Referendum

From Iraq to Egypt, Christians in the Middle East have been under attack, while tensions between Shiite Muslims and Sunni Muslims are being fuelled. The attack on a Coptic Church in Alexandria on January 1, 2011 or the subsequent Coptic protests and riots should not be looked at in isolation. [3] Nor should the subsequent fury of Coptic Christians expressed towards Muslims and the Egyptian government. These attacks on Christians are tied to the broader geo-political goals of the U.S., Britain, Israel, and NATO in the Middle East and Arab World.

The Yinon Plan stipulates that if Egypt were divided that Sudan and Libya would also be balkanized and weakened. In this context, there is a link between Sudan and Egypt. According to the Yinon Plan, the Copts or Christians of Egypt, which are a large minority in Egypt, are the key to the balkanization of the Arab states in North Africa. Thus, the Yinon Plan states that the creation of a Coptic state in Upper Egypt (South Egypt) and Christian-Muslim tensions within Egyptian are vital steps to balkanizing Sudan and North Africa.

The attacks on Christians in the Middle East are part of intelligence operations intended to divide the Middle East and North Africa. The timing of the mounting attacks on Coptic Christians in Egypt and the build-up to the referendum in South Sudan are no coincidence. The events in Sudan and Egypt are linked to one another and are part of the project to balkanize the Arab World and the Middle East. They must also be studied in conjunction with the Yinon Plan and with the events in Lebanon and Iraq, as well as in relation to the efforts to create a Shiite-Sunni divide.

The Outside Connections of the SPLM, SSLA, and Militias in Darfour

As in the case of Sudan, outside interference or intervention has been used to justify the oppression of domestic opposition. Despite its corruption, Khartoum has been under siege for refusing to merely be a proxy.

Sudan is justified in suspecting foreign troops and accusing the U.S., Britain, and Israel of eroding the national solidarity of Sudan. For example, Israel has sent arms to the opposition groups and separatist movements in Sudan. This was done through Ethiopia for years until Eritrea became independent from Ethiopia, which made Ethiopia lose its Red Sea coast, and bad relations developed between the Ethiopians and Eritreans. Afterwards Israeli weapons entered South Sudan from Kenya. From South Sudan, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), which is the political arm of the SSLA, would transfer weapons to the militias in Darfur. The governments of Ethiopia and Kenya, as well as the the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF), have also been working closely with the U.S., Britain, and Israel in East Africa.

The extent of Israeli influence with Sudanese opposition and separatist groups is significant. The SPLM has strong ties with Israel and its members and supporters regularly visit Israel. It is due to this that Khartoum capitulated and removed the Sudanese passport restriction on visiting Israel in late-2009 to satisfy the SPLM. [4] Salva Kiir Mayardit has also said that South Sudan will recognize Israel when it separates from Sudan.

The Sudan Tribune reported on March 5, 2008 that separatist groups in Darfur and Southern Sudan had offices in Israel:

[Sudan People’s Liberation Movement] supporters in Israel announced establishment of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement office in Israel, a press release said today.

“After consultation with the leadership of SPLM in Juba, the supporters of SPLM in Israel have decided to establish the office of SPLM in Israel.” Said [sic.] a statement received by email from Tel Aviv signed by the SLMP secretariat in Israel.

The statement said that SPLM office would promote the policies and the vision of the SPLM in the region. It further added that in accordance with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement the SPLM has the right to open in any country including Israel. It also indicated that there are around 400 SPLM supporters in Israel. Darfur rebel leader Abdel Wahid al-Nur said last week he opened an office in Tel Aviv. [5]

The Hijacking of the 2011 Referendum in South Sudan

What happened to the dreams of a united Africa or a united Arab World? Pan-Arabism, a movement to unit all Arabic-speaking peoples, has taken heavy losses as has African unity. The Arab World and Africa have consistenly been balkanized.

Secession and balkanization in East Africa and the Arab World are on the U.S., Israeli, and NATO drawing board.

The SSLA insurgency has been covertly supported by the U.S., Britain, and Israel since the 1980s. The formation of a new state in the Sudan is not intended to serve the interests of the people of South Sudan. It has been part of a broader geo-strategic agenda aimed at controlling North Africa and the Middle East.

The resulting process of “democratization” leading up to the January 2011 referendum serves the interests of the Anglo-American oil companies and the rivalry against China. This comes at the cost of the detriment of true national sovereignty in South Sudan.

NOTES

[1]  A kleptocracy is a government or/and state that works to protect, extend, deepen, continue, and entrench the wealth of the ruling class.
[2]  Jeffrey Goldberg, “After Iraq: What Will The Middle East Look Like?” The Atlantic, January/February 2008.
[3]  William Maclean, “Copts on global Christmas alert after Egypt bombing”, Reuters, January 5, 2011.
[4]  “Sudan removes Israel travel ban from new passport”, Sudan Tribune, October 3, 2009:
.
[5]  “Sudan’s SPLM reportedly opens an office in Israel – statement”, Sudan Tribune, March 5, 2008:

[End.]
__________

Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG).

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Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) Statement On South Sudan Referendum

The following is an official statement from the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF).

O.N.L.F Statement On South Sudan Referendum
Source:  Ogaden National Liberation Front
January 14, 2011  02:35

In 1981 the OAU committee mediating between Somalia and Ethiopia regarding the conflict in the Ogaden, declared that the Ogaden is part of Ethiopia. That decision was based on the 1964 resolution of the OAU promulgated in Cairo regarding the sanctity of the African borders left by colonialism. That unjust resolution in no way took into account the aspirations of the people of Ogaden and wrongly portrayed the Ogaden conflict as a border dispute between two States when it is in fact a conflict borne from the desire of the Ogaden people for self-determination.

Despite the AU [African Union] turning a blind eye to the plight of the Ogaden people and its lack of interest in addressing the root causes of the Ogaden conflict, the decision to allow the people of the South Sudan to take a referendum to decide their destiny is a great day for all people denied their rights to self-determination in Africa. President Bashir of Sudan is to be commended for agreeing to this bold and visionary step forward in the interest of justice and peace

This vote represents a precedent affirming that there is no longer a moral or so-called legal basis for denying the Ogaden people their legitimate rights to self-determination and that the AU bears a direct responsibility to address protracted conflicts which require a comprehensive political solution especially when those conflicts are based on the legitimate aspirations of African peoples to achieve
self-determination.

The fact of the matter is that the Ogaden people will achieve their rights through a protracted peoples’ struggle whether the current or future Ethiopian regimes like it or not. It would be appropriate for the AU and peace loving nations to be on the right side of history and address the Ogaden conflict with the same energy and interest afforded the South Sudan conflict. The AU should not wait for Genocide to take on unimaginable proportions before engaging itself in this conflict. The fact that the Ethiopian regime is engaged in war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ogaden is well documented. Ogaden warrants AU intervention now.

Ogaden National Liberation Front (O.N.L.F)

[End.]

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Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) Killed 14, Wounded at Least 7

The following article is from the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) website.

Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) Killed 14, Wounded at Least 7
©  OLF
December 27, 2010

The heroic Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) fighters operating in Easter Oromia, Eastern Harage zone have carried a sudden and coordinated attack on a TPLF led Ethiopian troops deployed in a camp in Qarsa town on December 14, 2010 killing 14 and wounding at least 7 a report we received from OLA Eastern Oromian command revealed.

Our freedom fighters have also confiscated military equipments from the enemy after the attack and made the property of the Oromo peoples’ struggle led by the OLF.

This surprise attack was carried by an “OLA Special Unit” during night time when the enemy troops are at sleep. The panicked enemy troops opened fire on each other leaving their camp in disarray in the middle of the night. Later after the first round of sudden attack ended, the enemy troops got help from another area but they were unable to drive away the OLA unit.

As was always the case in the past, the enemy troops, angered by the attack of the OLA Special Unit, have forcefully called the local population for a meeting and have intimidated them for alleged support of OLA and to “retaliate” on them (the civilians).

It is to be recalled that OLF News has reported on December 11, 2010 that OLA has killed 8 and wounded at least 3 in Northern Oromia, Northern Shoa Zone, that on November 21, 2010 OLA has killed 53 and wounded 38 others in Eastern and Southern Oromia, and that on November 25, 2010 that OLA has made 82 enemy troops out of action in Western Hararge zone, Bookee Xiqqoo County.

OLF News

[End.]

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More than 280 Ethiopian soldiers killed in Ogaden during the past few weeks

The following article is reprinted with permission from Ogaden Online. (Map added by Inteltrends.)

More than 280 Ethiopian soldiers killed in Ogaden
©  Ogaden Online
December 26, 2010  22:58

The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) forces have carried out heavy attacks against Ethiopian troops in Ogaden. Heavy casualties, including deaths and injuries, were inflicted on Ethiopian troops in the attacks, which occurred in various parts of the Ogaden, and military equipment was captured from them.

Our correspondent in the region has reported major battle victories scored by the Ogaden liberation forces over the past few weeks, during which the enemy suffered massively. The Ethiopian army suffered more than 280 soldiers killed, many more wounded and weapons captured, among other losses.

On 22 Dec 2010, Reports received from the Ogaden National Army (ONLA) central command which were corroborated by reliable local, civilian eyewitnesses confirm the success of the ONLA attacks in inflicting heavy losses to the Ethiopian (Woyane) army in Garbo area, specially place called Badhiweynley which is part of Nogob Province.

First reports provided by the ONLA central command indicate the operations undertaken by the Halgan unit which operates in and around the area resulted the death of 110 Ethiopian soldiers including Eight high ranking military officials and the capture of huge caches of military supplies. The supplies included small arms, machine guns, sophisticated military radios, and a large cache of more modern medicines.

Shortly after leaving the garrison, eyewitnesses reported that this unit engaged Ethiopian (Woyane) reinforcements sent from Garbo. It is said that the Ethiopian (Woyane) reinforcements which were not expecting ONLA units in the area where the battle took place sustained major military losses.

Our reporter in Garbo confirmed that many Woyane dead and wounded have been brought to the city.

On the same date, the unflinching ONLA Commandoes forces carried out a well-executed attack on Ethiopian (woyane) troops in Degahbour, killing dozens soldiers and burning two military vehicles. The soldiers were watching TV when ONLA commando raided their base.

On 15 Dec 2010, Ogaden liberation fighters carried out nocturnal attacks on enemy Ethiopian army convoy in near Barajisaale, Qorahay province, destroying two Russian made (Ural) trucks and captured sizable quantities of Ammunition and weaponry. The Ethiopian casualties in these operations are over 80 dead and more than 40 wounded. On the same date, the ONLF forces carried out a heavy rocket propelled grenade attack on enemy troops stationed in one of the military bases in Madhaafaan Village, Shabelle province, killing 13 soldiers and wounding dozens more.

On 12 Dec 2010 forty-seven Ethiopian (Woyane) soldiers were killed and 53 others wounded in a similar attack in Kadiwa, near farmadow, Jarar/Degahbour province.

The fleeing Ethiopian soldiers burned down the Farmadow town. It is reported the soldiers have prevented the town dwellers from saving any valuables from their burning property. As a result many of the town dwellers are reported being destitute and are said to be squatting in the outskirts of the burnt town. Also, Ethiopian soldiers burned three people alive including 71 year old lady and Mentally challenged man.

On 14-12 Dec 2010, a heavy attack was carried out against Ethiopian (Woyane) troops at a place called Gabriile and Fiqi all part of Nogob and Qorahay province. Fourteen soldiers were killed and 20 others wounded in the attack.

There is constant fighting between Ethiopian troops and ONLF forces in the Ogaden region. Human rights organizations accuse the Ethiopian soldiers of violating the human rights by harassing the people in the Ogaden region.

[End.]

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OGADEN: People burned alive in Farmadow Town

The following article is reprinted with permission from Ogaden Online. (Map added by Inteltrends.)

People burned alive in Farmadow Town
©  Ogaden Online
December 19, 2010  15:51  administrator

Reports reaching our service desk from the Ogaden Online and Radio Xoriyo reporter in the city of Degahbour confirm the burning down of the town of Farmadow by the Ethiopian military and an associated militia on Dec 15th, 2010.

Reliable sources from the town and its environs report that a fierce battle took place in the outskirts of the town between the Ogaden National Liberation Army (ONLA) and the Ethiopian military stationed in the town.

Although no official reports are available yet however eyewitness accounts indicate that the Ethiopian military was defeated handily in this battle. As a result, it is reported that fleeing Ethiopian soldiers entered the town and started burning down the town.

At least 3 people who couldn’t escape were burned alive in their houses, among them are:

·  71 year old women whom we didn’t get her name
·  Cabdi Fiqi Yusuf
·  The Son of Dayib Salaad Faarax, who was a mentally challenged individual

The fleeing soldiers are said to have prevented the town dwellers from saving any valuables from their burning property. As a result many of the town dwellers are reported being destitute and are said to be squatting in the outskirts of the burnt town.

Many civilians interviewed by our reporter indicate that what the Ethiopians are doing is not new and it is something they said that happens every time these soldiers encounter defeat in the many battles they engage in with ONLA. These civilians admit however that what they are seeing now appears a more intense and organized campaign meant to exact maximum revenge against the Ogaden civilians.

[End.]

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Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) Military communiqué

The following statement is from the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF).

ONLF Military Communiqué
Source:  ONLF
November 8, 2010  00:29:58

The Ogaden national Liberation Front Army- is continuing its offensive against Ethiopian Army troops in the Ogaden. During the months of October and the beginning of November It has conducted 34 tactical and strategic military operations, killing 267 Ethiopian Army Soldiers and wounding 157. Casualty on the ONLF side was minimal.

The latest fighting occurred on November 4, 2010 near the strategic town of Babile, which lies on the road between Harar and Jigjiga, a main supply route for the Ethiopian Army in the Ogaden. The liberation forces attacked and captured the Ethiopian Army garrison of Dhalac near Babile guarding that strategic route, killing 25 soldiers and wounding 32, while the rest retreated to Babile. The Liberation Army destroyed the garrison, burning a military vehicle and capturing large stockpiles of food, medicine and ammunition. In addition, the Liberation Army seized 24 Ak-47 assault rifles, 2 heavy machine-guns and 3 RT military communication Radios.

Since mid-2009, the ONLF liberation Army has seized the military initiative and Ethiopia has been forced to be on the defensive while trying to hide its military weakness by engaging in propaganda war, falsely claiming peace deals with surrogates it created, nicknaming them an ONLF faction.

The Ogaden National Liberation Army will continue pounding Ethiopian government establishments in the Ogaden until the rights of the Ogaden Somali people to genuine self-determination is implemented.

Ogaden National Liberation Front

[End.]
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Press Release from the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) concerning HRW report about Aid Abuse by Ethiopia

The following Press Release is issued by the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF).

Concerning HRW report about Aid Abuse by Ethiopia
Source:  O.N.L.F.
October 25, 2010

The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) welcomes the recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) report titled “Ethiopia: Donor Aid Supports Repression”. However, ONLF believes that HRW had been extremely conservative in regard to the level of abuse, to the extent of avoiding totally the Ogaden Somali territory where the level of repression is so rampant that the regime is unwilling to allow any body from the outside world to witness it.

In the Ogaden the regime is not only denying humanitarian assistance to civilians who refuse to actively cooperate with the regime’s security apparatus, but is using aid in every form not only for soliciting political support but for actively forcing people from every [walk] of life to take up arms as militias and fight ONLF.

Furthermore, Ethiopia has used the aid for military purposes to suppress the Ogaden Somali people’s demand for self-determination and to train and equip what they call special police which commit unprecedented crimes against humanity under the nose of the donor countries and organizations.

ONLF is convinced that the donor nations are aware of the fact that the Ethiopian regime is unhesitatingly using humanitarian assistance as a tool for repression. Thus, this report of HRW of the misuse of international aid by Ethiopia is not surprising. The reality is that donor countries are not paying any attention to the findings of reports like this one nor taking appropriate steps to ensure their [aid] reaches the beneficiary.

The indifference of the donors of the misuse of the humanitarian aid encourages Ethiopia to step up the gross human right abuses in Ogaden and it will continue to do so until the oppressed people assert their rights and deal decisively with this illegitimate regime.

Ogaden National Liberation Front

[End.]
__________

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Press Release from the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) regarding the sale of Petronas assets to South Western Energy

The following Press Release is issued by the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF).

Sale of PETRONAS assets to South Western Energy
Source:  O.N.L.F.
October 7, 2010

The Ogaden national Liberation Front sees the so-called sale of “PETRONAS” concessions in the Ogaden to South Western Energy (a Tigray TPLF owned enterprise) as a face-saving measure intended to hide Ethiopia’s incapacity to resolve the conflict in the Ogaden in a just way, peacefully through a negotiated settlement.

First, this act is a continuation of the previous practices of concessions granted to oil companies while systematically subjecting the Ogaden people to deprivation and inhuman crimes in order to force them to forgo any rights to their land and resources. However, the difference now is that multinationals from abroad had seen through Ethiopia’s false claims of controlling the Ogaden and had opted out of the Ogaden. Therefore, the regime had been forced to hide behind its own company in order to cover up its inability to guarantee to companies access to what it does not own or control. Ethiopia’s plan was to resort to scorched earth policy and mass transgression of the Human Rights of the Ogaden people, in order to loot and usurp the Ogaden Somali people of their land and natural resources. Ethiopia sliced the whole Somali territory into 21 blocks and auctioned it without regard to the wishes and wellbeing of the Ogaden people or the precarious ecology of the land. No other part of the so-called Ethiopia was subjected to such an inhuman and avaricious practice.

Secondly, South Western Energy is a company owned by the TPLF regime and its presence in the Ogaden is considered as an extension of the regime in the Ogaden and will not be tolerated. This regime has previously massacred innocent people civilians in the Ogaden in order to facilitate for South Western Energy to exploit Fossil fuel resources in the Ogaden and the Ogaden people hold this company equally responsible for the crimes committed against them.

Thirdly, the Ethiopian regime has closed all doors for a negotiated settlement of the Ogaden conflict, by engaging in deceitful practices, and claiming reaching meaningless peace deals with forged ONLF faction and other irrelevant groups. Consequently, the Ogaden will remain a war zone until Ethiopia changes its intransigent stand and accepts a genuine peace process under the auspices of a third credible international party. Therefore, companies that engage in oil exploration in the Ogaden are putting themselves in harm’s way, since collateral damages from the warring parties or other forms of insecurity are highly probable.

Finally, ONLF calls upon all interested parties in exploiting the natural resources of the Ogaden to invest in just efforts that could encourage the international community to take decisive actions that will protect the rights of the Ogaden people and bring peace instead of fuelling the conflict by replenishing the coffers of the aggressor, the Ethiopian regime.

Ogaden National Liberation Front

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Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) Military communiqué

The following statement is from the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF).

ONLF Military communiqué
Source:  Ogaden National Liberation Front
September 21, 2010

Heavy fighting continues in Ogaden for the 6th straight day in several provinces in Ogaden including Qorahay, Nogob, Shabelle, Shiniile, Doolo, Jarar and the area between Jijiga and Harar. A total of 183 of the TPLF/EPRDF regime’s troops have been killed thus far with 3 armored vehicles destroyed.

This offensive code name “Operation Flag Bearer” (“calan side” in Somali) targets the regime’s military command and control in Ogaden and its supply routes.

A large number of Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) troops have been mobilized including those who have recently completed training in bases in central Ogaden. This offensive will continue.

The ONLF invites members of the international media to come to these areas to report on the true state of affairs as it relates to our latest military offensive.

Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF)
Military Command Centre (MCC)

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IntelTrends republishes selected resistance statements so that readers can access different perspectives on current affairs, political and military issues.

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