Aug 07, 2007

Two months have passed since the Addis Autocracy announced for the third time in little more than a year a so-called crackdown in Ogaden. This so-called crackdown had the modest objective of ‘containing’ the ever-increasing strength of the Ogaden National Liberation Front, ONLF, whereas the prior ones had a much-publicized bravado of intending to ‘wipe’ out ONLF.

What the regime terms a crackdown against ONLF is nothing more than a failed attempt to yet again target the civilian population for the mistaken belief that harming the Ogaden civilians will somehow compel ONLF to cease and desist. Ever since this latest ‘crackdown’ there have been widespread Ethiopian brutalities against the Ogaden civilians throughout Ogaden.

In the name of the latest ‘crackdown’, the Ethiopian military and its associated militia firebombed entire towns and hamlets. Residents of Entire Ogaden towns and hamlets were forcefully moved to some cordoned off military areas closer to main cities. Mass detentions of civilians were carried out in many parts of Ogaden. There have been gruesome discoveries of civilians some of whom were tortured and later decapitated by the Ethiopian military.

There has not been a single reported military engagement between ONLF and the Ethiopian military in the two months since the so-called crackdown where the Ethiopian military was not handily defeated. Every time the Ethiopian military is defeated militarily by ONLF, it, the Ethiopian army, takes revenge against the Ogaden civilians wherever they encounter.

Knowing that the demoralized Ethiopian military cannot engage ONLF militarily the Ethiopian military have lately carried out despicable acts of revenge against civilians in Ogaden. Some of these acts include the planting of bombs in heavily populated civilian areas such as market places as well as sacred places like mosques and churches.

Having calculated that the bombing of a mosque in Ogaden will not generate as much press headline as that of say a church, the Ethiopian military this past Sunday, bombed a market place and a church in Jig Jiga, Ogaden. Within minutes of the bombing, a regime famous for its lethargy and incompetence was accusing ONLF of being behind such cowardly acts of terrorism against the market place and the church.

ONLF have condemned and categorically denied that they were behind the bombing. We, the Ogaden Editorial Board - OEB, believe that the real culprit of this heinous act of terrorism is no one other than the Addis Ababa autocracy. OEB not only condemns the terrorism carried out against our people and our Christian cohabitants in Jig Jiga city, but we ask the world and the UN agencies to investigate this latest acts of terrorism carried by the Ethiopian military against our people.

OEB sees this latest bombing as nothing more than deflective tactics of a despondent regime. The regime in Addis Ababa is a regime that does not respect the inviolability of sacred places like mosques and churches. The world community should not buy the Ethiopian blame game but should insist on dispatching UN investigative bodies to Ogaden in order investigate Ethiopian brutalities against the Ogaden citizenry.


editorial@ogaden.com
Ogaden Online Editorial
Aug 07, 2007