Causing affront – Ethiopian insurgent group strengthens position

Founded more than 25 years ago, the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) is now playing an increasingly important role in the Horn of Africa's complex politics. Its recent operations in Ethiopia's Somali Region (commonly known as the Ogaden) have shown that the insurgent group remains a threat to Ethiopia and its hopes of opening up the area to foreign investment. The group also has a presence in neighbouring Somalia, where it may be fighting alongside Hizbul Islam, one of the two main Islamist insurgent groups.

The ONLF continues to carry out attacks against the Ethiopian military in the Ogaden. Between 11 and 18 January, the pro-rebel Ogaden website reported that the group had launched operations in several of the region's nine zones, killing more than 60 Ethiopian soldiers and wounding many more.

This wave of attacks followed a larger co-ordinated offensive against seven towns in the Ogaden in early November 2009. In a 19 November communiqué, the group claimed it had killed 985 Ethiopian soldiers and seized large quantities of military hardware over the previous nine days. The Ethiopian government confirmed that some local militias had been attacked by the rebels, but denied the ONLF claims it had captured the towns and inflicted heavy casualties. In a statement released on 16 November, government spokesman Bereket Simon said that approximately 245 ONLF fighters had been killed in the fighting.