Ethiopia rebels claim to have killed 270 more troops
Nairobi, Kenya 04 November 2007 08:34
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Ethiopia's Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) rebels said on Sunday they
had killed another 270 government troops in heightened fighting in the remote
eastern region of the Horn of Africa nation.
Most were blown up in packed trucks, the rebels said.
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's government has regularly denied ONLF reports of
mass casualties as propaganda from the its foreign supporters. It has itself
reported many deaths on the rebel side during its offensive against them this
year.
No independent assessment of casualties has been possible as the region is
effectively off-limits to foreign journalists and is also often difficult to
access for aid workers.
The Ogaden conflict is the worst of several insurgencies that Meles' government
faces in the outer regions of Ethiopia.
Security forces launched an unprecedented offensive against the ONLF, which
wants more autonomy for the arid region, after it killed 74 people during a
raid on a Chinese-run oil exploration field earlier this year.
In its latest "military communiqué", the ONLF said "large numbers" of its
fighters had engaged government troops in five places between October 26 to
November 1 due to "summary executions, detentions of nomads and senseless
shooting of livestock".
"These engagements resulted in over 270 TPLF [government] troops killed with an
unconfirmed number wounded. Five military transport vehicles were destroyed by
RPG-7s. The transport vehicles were full of troops when they were struck," it
said.
"Military engagements between ONLF troops and TPLF forces in the Ogaden have
increased significantly over the last two weeks. This increase appears to be a
coordinated and deliberate escalation in armed conflict initiated by the TPLF
regime despite the humanitarian crisis in the Ogaden."
Ethiopian officials were not immediately available for fresh comment on the
latest ONLF statement. Last month, the rebels also claimed they had killed 250
soldiers in other fighting.
The ONLF gave no information of its own casualties.
Ethiopia accuses the ONLF, which is thought by analysts to number several
thousand armed men, of being terrorists supported by arch-foe and neighbour
Eritrea. - Reuters
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