Aug
23
(Reuters)
-
Separatist
insurgents
from
Ethiopia's
remote
southeastern
Ogaden
region
are
facing
the
toughest
military
crackdown
in
years
after
they
killed
74
people
in a
raid
on a
Chinese-run
oilfield
earlier
this
year.
Here
are
some
key
facts
about
the
Ogaden
National
Liberation
Front
(ONLF):
*
Formed
in
1984
amid
a
resurgence
of
separatist
sentiment
in
the
Ogaden
region
on
Ethiopia's
border
with
Somalia,
many
of
its
first
members
supported
Mogadishu
in
its
failed
war
with
Addis
Ababa
over
the
region
in
the
late
1970s.
*
Ethiopia
accuses
the
ONLF
of
being
terrorists
supported
by
arch-foe
and
neighbour
Eritrea.
*
The
ONLF's
aims
have
varied
over
time,
ranging
from
full-scale
independence
to
joining
a
"Greater
Somalia",
to
more
autonomy
within
ethnically
diverse
Ethiopia.
*
ONLF
fighters,
who
do
not
wear
uniforms,
have
taken
advantage
of
their
close
ties
to
the
area's
largely
nomadic
communities,
crossing
expanses
of
open
land
to
launch
hit-and-run
attacks
on
Ethiopian
military
convoys.
They
often
melt
into
villages
and
hide
among
herders
when
counter-attacks
are
threatened.
*
The
Ogaden
region
is
almost
entirely
populated
by
Muslim,
Somali-speaking
people.
The
region
has
kept
its
own
distinctive
identity,
doing
the
bulk
of
its
trade
with
Somaliland,
Somalia
and
the
Middle
East
rather
than
the
rest
of
"highland"
Ethiopia.
*
The
separatist
cause
has
been
fuelled
by
widespread
resentment
at
the
region's
low
level
of
development.
Until
Chinese
engineers
starting
moving
in
late
last
year,
the
entire
region
could
only
boast
just
over
30
km
(20
miles)
of
tarmac
road,
all
of
it
around
the
regional
capital
Jijiga.
The
area
has
also
been
battered
by a
succession
of
severe
droughts
and
floods.
