Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) rebels said Friday they killed 24 Ethiopian soldiers and injured dozens after heavy fighting between the rebels and the Ethiopian soldiers in Dgahbur town in eastern Ethiopia.
Hussein Nor, the information secretary of ONLF rebels from Doha, Qatar told Shabelle radio in Mogadishu, Somalia that the fighting started 4 February in Dagahbur and still continuing in the regional Somali administration in Ethiopia.
There is no word from the Ethiopian government about the claim of the rebels yet.
Asked about the casualties of their side, he said that there were some casualties but not more and asserted that they will continue the fighting until they liberate Ogaden region from Ethiopia.
Independent sources from the region say fighting has been continuing in the ethnic Somali region of Ethiopia for the last two weeks.
The ONLF is fighting for the independence of ethnic Somalis in Ethiopia's oil-rich Ogaden region. They say the local people have been marginalized by Addis Ababa
In June, New York-based Human Rights Watch accused the Ethiopian government of burning villages, executing civilians and raping women in an effort to quell the ONLF’s insurgency. Ethiopia denied the allegations.
By: Mareeg English editor
amsomalia@mareeg.com
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