page_title: Insurgency in Ogaden
section_title: Timeline
hierarchical_section_title: Insurgency in Ogaden / Timeline
caption_attribution_description: English: ONLF rebels are taking time off from fighting by praying to Allah. All fighters from that rebellion are Muslim.
context_page_description: The Insurgency in Ogaden was an armed conflict that took place from 1994 to 2018. It was fought by separatists, the Ogaden National Liberation Front, against the Ethiopian government. The war began in 1994, when the ONLF attempted to recreate Greater Somalia by unifying Ethiopia's Somali Region with Somalia. It ended in a peace agreement as part of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's reforms.
context_section_description: The outbreak of the conflict soon attracted the attention of jihadist elements in the region. The Somali militant group Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya, established a training camp in Luuq, while portraying the war as a clash of Christianity and Islam. Its Ogaden wing later conducted a series of attacks on major Ethiopian cities. Osama bin Laden described Ogaden as place where Muslims were oppressed by a “Judeo-Christian alliance” during his 1996 declaration of jihad against the United States. Al-Qaeda agents had previously infiltrated Ogaden, investing $3 million in smuggling foreign fighters into the region. Fighters from Turkey, Bosnia, Egypt, France, Gambia and other countries joined the conflict taking part in 35 engagements between June – July 1996. However, Islamist involvement in the war fell into obscurity after three successful government operations against Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya, that took place on 9 August 1996, 20 December 1996 and January 1997. Bin Laden's relocation from Sudan to Afghanistan also shifted Al-Qaeda's focus from the region. Some members of the insurgency have expressed a desire for their own independent state.
  On 20 December 1996, Ethiopian troops perpetrated a cross border raid on an Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya camp in Luuq, killing over 58 militants including 48 foreign volunteers.
  On 13 April 2003, ONLF initiated the Operation Mandad, aiming the expulsion of government troops from the districts of Korahey and Dolo. Two days later a battle took place in the towns of Alen and Garas Qalo, security forces suffered 60 fatalities and lost 2 army trucks, 41 rebels were also killed in the fighting. Authorities responded by imposing curfews on the towns of Kebri Dehar, Warder, and Shilabo, 36 suspected militants were also arrested.
  On 1 October 2005, insurgents launched attacks against government troops stationed in the towns of Hamarro and Fik, killing 4 and injuring 5 soldiers.
  On 2 October 2005, the town of Gasan and an army base located in the district of Kebri Dehar came under a militant attack, 5 soldiers were slain and 6 wounded.
  On 19 October 2005, rebels attacked an army encampment in the area of Kudunbur, 11 soldiers were killed and 13 wounded.
  On 15 November 2005, Ethiopian troops allegedly committed a massacre of 30 civilians and prisoners after the later demanded better treatment from their captors.
  On 13 March 2006, an ONLF delegation conducted a briefing with officials representing the Danish foreign ministry, human rights abuses were discussed during the meeting.
  On 23 July 2006, a communique issued by ONLF announced the shootdown of an Ethiopian airforce, transport helicopter. The incident reportedly took place in the vicinity of the town Gabo Gabo, Qorahay zone, 20 soldiers were killed in the aftermath.
  On 24 April 2007, ONLF launched an attack on a Chinese owned oil facility in Abole, a total of 74 people were killed in the attack including 9 Chinese citizens.
  In response to the April 2007 ONLF attack, Ethiopian security forces initiated a large scale counter insurgency campaign against the ONLF. Between June 2007 – May 2008 approximately 1,000 people were killed as the opposing faction engaged in combat and committed human rights abuses.
  On 3 July 2007, an ONLF ambush outside the town of Shilaabo resulted in the deaths of 43 soldiers, the separatists suffered 5 casualties and 8 rebels were injured.
  On 22 January 2008, a government official announced the death of former top guerrilla commander Mohamed Sirad Dolal, following an operation in the Denan woreda of the Gode zone. By the time of his death Sirad had left ONLF and operated as a commander of Al-Itihad Al-Islami.
  On 3 August 2009, an Ethiopian court convicted Bashir Ahmed Makhtal, an Ethiopian born Canadian citizen to life in prison, on charges of belonging to ONLF. Makhtal denied all allegations, stating that the reason behind his prosecution is his relation to one of ONLF's founding members.
  On 27 October 2009, an ONLF spokesman accused the governments of Puntland and Somaliland of handing over ONLF rebels to the Ethiopean security for
caption: A group of ONLF rebels in 2006.
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