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Ethiopia denies ONLF attack claim Ethiopia admits Ogaden skirmishes
(1 day later)
The Ethiopian government has denied the rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front's claim to have inflicted heavy losses on government forces. Ethiopia has admitted there have been "skirmishes" between its troops and the rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front.
An ONLF statement said its forces had killed 140 soldiers during the battle near the eastern town of Wardheer. But the government once again denied ONLF claims that it had inflicted heavy losses on government forces.
It said an unnamed senior Ethiopian official was visiting the area when the ONLF staged its attack. The ONLF said on Sunday its forces had killed 140 soldiers in a battle near the eastern town of Wardheer.
The Ethiopian government has denied its forces were attacked, and says the ONLF lacked the strength for such an attack. The Ethiopian government initially denied its forces were attacked. A BBC correspondent says reports of a major confrontation in the region persist.
Government spokesman Zemedkun Tekle dismissed the ONLF claims. The Ethiopian prime minister's spokesman, Bereket Simon, on Monday described the ONFL's claims as "daydreams".
"I don't believe they have killed even one. I don't think it is true. We believe that ONLF is not in a position to make this kind of attack," he told the AP news agency. He said no government soldiers had been killed in the Wardheer area and there had been no engagements between the army and the ONLF rebels.
The authorities have barred aid workers and journalists from going to the eastern Ogaden region since the ONLF began a new offensive earlier this year. He also denied the ONLF report that the prime minister's security adviser, Abay Tsehay, the supposed target of the attack, had been to Wardheer.
Mr Bereket said Mr Abay had only attended meetings in the regional capital, Jijiga, in the company of the deputy prime minister.
Militia
However, an international aid worker in the region told BBC correspondent Elizabeth Blunt that there was confirmation an attack had taken place near Wardheer and that more than 100 people had been killed.
The aid worker added however that the government was increasingly relying on locally raised militias rather than the army in the region, and that it was possible that these militias rather than regular troops had been involved.
Last week, aid agencies reached an agreement with the government in Addis Ababa to provide emergency supplies for civilians in the region.Last week, aid agencies reached an agreement with the government in Addis Ababa to provide emergency supplies for civilians in the region.
The ONLF was founded in 1984 and is fighting for independence from Ethiopia, complaining of discrimination by the central government against the region's Somali-speaking nomads. The ONLF was founded in 1984 and is fighting for independence from Ethiopia, complaining of discrimination by the central government against the Ogaden region's Somali-speaking nomads.