Armed groups and militias
Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF)
The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) is an ethnic Somali movement in Ethiopia's Somali Region, founded in 1984, that sought self-determination for the Ogaden. It took part in regional elections in 1991, later fought Ethiopian forces, and claimed an attack on an oil field at Abole in April 2007 in which at least 74 people were killed. Ethiopia's counter-insurgency campaign that followed was documented by Human Rights Watch. The ONLF signed a peace agreement with Ethiopia in Asmara on 21 October 2018.
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, Ethiopia and Somalia: a timeline of wars and the clan page 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 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).
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).
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 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).
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.
- Council on Foreign Relations, "Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF)" (2007): backgrounder.
Sources
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Keep reading
- United Somali Congress (USC), 1989–2003The USC, 1989–2003: founding in Rome, Aidid's military wing, the fall of Mogadishu in 1991, the Ali Mahdi and Aidid wings, and what became of them.
- Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), 1985–2004The SPM, 1985–2004: origins, army defections in 1990, the Jess and Morgan wings, Kismayo, the 1998 Jubaland project, and later groups.
- Somali National Front (SNF), 1991–2001The SNF, 1991–2001: who formed it, its leaders, the 1991–92 campaign, Gedo, relations with Ethiopia and al-Itihaad, and its merger into the TNG.
- Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA), 1995–2004The RRA, 1995–2004: founding at Jhaffey, the taking of Huddur and Baidoa, Ethiopian support, the 2002 South West State and split, and the move into the TFG.
- Somali National Alliance (SNA)The Somali National Alliance, 1992–2002: how it was formed, its member factions, the war with UNOSOM II, the split with Osman Atto, Hussein Aidid's leadership and its end.
- Somali Democratic Movement (SDM)The Somali Democratic Movement, the Digil and Mirifle movement founded in 1989: its place in the Somali National Alliance, the 1993 Baidoa congress and council, and its successor, the RRA.