2007–2008 Ethiopian crackdown in Ogaden
The 2007–2008 Ethiopian crackdown in Ogaden was a military campaign by the Ethiopian Army against the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF). The crackdown against the guerrillas began after they killed 74 people in an attack on a Chinese-run oil exploration field in April 2007.
The main military operations were centered on the towns of Degehabur, Kebri Dahar, Werder and Shilavo in Ogaden, which are in the Ethiopian Somali Region. The area is home to the Ogaden clan, seen as the bedrock of support of the ONLF.[7]
According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), various human rights abuses were committed by the Ethiopian military.[8]
Expulsions of humanitarian agencies[edit]
Large segments of the region were inaccessible to outside agencies as Ethiopian troops attempted to suppress the rebel insurgency.[27]
On November 6, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced opening an aid facility in the Ogaden region. The U.N. has also called for an independent investigation into allegations of human rights abuses by Ethiopian forces in the region. Government troops are fighting ONLF rebels who want more autonomy for their region.[28] Médecins Sans Frontières is among the 12 organizations that have received permission to work in Ogaden, while the ICRC is still barred from working in the region.[28]
The Eritrea and Somalia factors[edit]
Experts say the ONLF was active in the Somali capital Mogadishu during 2006 while that city was controlled by the Islamic Courts Union, and that some Islamist fighters may have fled to Ogaden after they were ousted from Mogadishu.[7]