# Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF)

> The Ogaden National Liberation Front: its founding in 1984, the 1991 elections, the 2007 Abole attack, Ethiopia's counter-insurgency campaign and the 2018 peace agreement.

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Last checked: 2026-11-12
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## In short

The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) is a movement of ethnic Somalis in the Somali Region of Ethiopia, the area Somalis call the Ogaden. This page records its history as the sources report it. For the wider background see [The Ogaden War, 1977–78](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/), [Ethiopia and Somalia: a timeline of wars](/en/history/ethiopia-somalia-wars-timeline/) and the clan page [Ogaadeen](/en/society/ogaadeen/).

## Founding and the 1991 elections

The Council on Foreign Relations wrote that the ONLF was founded in 1984 by members of several ethnic Somali liberation groups, after the [Western Somali Liberation Front](/en/government/western-somali-liberation-front/) lost support following the 1977–78 war. It said the group seeks self-determination for the Ogaden, did well in regional elections in 1991, and that its political wing later merged into the Somali People's Democratic Party. It noted that the ONLF was not on the US, EU or UK lists of terrorist organisations ([Rebecca Bloom and Eben Kaplan, Council on Foreign Relations, 27 April 2007](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/ogaden-national-liberation-front-onlf)).

## The Abole attack, April 2007

On 24 April 2007 ONLF fighters attacked a Chinese-run oil exploration site at Abole in the Somali Region. At least 74 people were killed, 65 Ethiopians and nine Chinese oil workers, and seven Chinese workers were taken away. The ONLF said the violence "had not been without warning" (Council on Foreign Relations, 2007).

## Ethiopia's counter-insurgency, 2007–2008

Human Rights Watch reported in June 2008 that Ethiopia's army began a counter-insurgency campaign in the region in June 2007. It documented more than 150 executions and 87 villages burned or forcibly evacuated, along with mass detention, rape, the seizure of livestock and the blocking of aid and trade; the International Committee of the Red Cross was expelled from the region in July 2007. One person told the organisation: "Anyone with a bowl of water is suspected of supplying the ONLF." The report also documented abuses by the ONLF, including the killings at Abole, summary executions of people it suspected of collaborating with the government, and the mining of roads ([Human Rights Watch, "Collective Punishment", 12 June 2008](https://www.hrw.org/report/2008/06/12/collective-punishment/war-crimes-and-crimes-against-humanity-ogaden-area-ethiopias)).

## The 2018 peace agreement

On 21 October 2018 the Ethiopian government and the ONLF signed a peace agreement in Asmara, Eritrea. Ethiopia's delegation was led by Foreign Minister Workneh Gebeyehu and the ONLF's by its leader, Admiral [Mohamed Omar](/en/people/mohamed-omar-1999/) Osman. The agreement allows the ONLF to "peacefully pursue its activities" in Ethiopia, and the two sides set up a joint committee to carry it forward ([Africanews, 22 October 2018](https://www.africanews.com/2018/10/22/eritrea-hosts-final-peace-pact-between-ethiopia-and-onlf/)).

## Sources differ

- **Terrorist listings.** The Council on Foreign Relations noted in 2007 that the US, EU and UK did not list the ONLF as a terrorist organisation (CFR, 2007).
- **Responsibility for abuses.** Human Rights Watch documented abuses by both the Ethiopian army and the ONLF (HRW, 2008).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Human Rights Watch, "Collective Punishment: War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity in the Ogaden area of Ethiopia's Somali Regional State" (2008): [report](https://www.hrw.org/report/2008/06/12/collective-punishment/war-crimes-and-crimes-against-humanity-ogaden-area-ethiopias).
- Council on Foreign Relations, "Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF)" (2007): [backgrounder](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/ogaden-national-liberation-front-onlf).

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