June 17, 2006 Ogaden Online reporters in both JigJiga and Addis Ababa told our service desk that Ethiopia’s military ruler, Meles Zenawi, has ordered the immediate call up of all the so-called local Somali administration heads to Addis Ababa.

It is not yet known the reasons for the call up however anonymous sources who are not authorized to speak with the media intimated that the call up is related to the ineffectiveness of the current military campaigns in Ogaden.

These same sources claim that Ethiopia’s current military head is at loggerheads with his own Tigrey military generals who are aghast with the current losses in the Ogaden battle fields. It is believed that the generals want the return of all the recently deployed Tigrey militias led by general Mulugeta.

The generals insist that if the military could not show a single liberated town or hamlet by now, a month and half after the whole of Ogaden was supposed to be liberated from the grip of ONLF fighters, it is highly unlikely that the Tigrey militias could be effective against ONLF regardless of the support of the ineffective local administration heads some of whom the Tigrey generals suspect to be ONLF sympathizers.

It is reported that Zenawi is asking for the support of the generals for one more month hence the reason for the immediate call up of the local administration heads to Addis Ababa. Reports indicate the departure of most of the executive committee of the local administration from JigJiga today. Those who are away to their respective districts are expected to head to Addis Ababa as soon as they get air transport which is not yet available.

Political experts knowledgeable of the politics of the horn believe that these recurring call ups point to a sign of inept and directionless efforts by the regime in Addis Ababa to gain some traction in the battlegrounds in Ogaden. It is to be seen whether the call ups to Addis Ababa will have any impact on the military situation in Ogaden.

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Battle codenamed 'Quusiye' in and around Ceelwayne
June 17, 2006 Eye witnesses in the Dhanan district report major military encounters between Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) fighters and those of the recently deployed Tigrey militias stationed in Yabalu, which is the outskirts of Ceelwayne. It is reported that fierce firefights took place from June 11th to June 13th.

It is reported that for only the third time in the recent Ogaden history, that military helicopters took part in the military engagements against ONLF. Unconfirmed reports from Dhanan district put the death toll at about two hundred and fifty Tigrey militias.

On the first day of the war, the head of the Militia with the rank of captain and his second in command who was a sergeant were taken prisoners. Military equipment of unknown quantity as well as important operational planning documents is reported to have been captured by the ONLF fighters.

Ethiopian military reinforcements were sent from neighboring districts to help out the militias at Yabalu since ONLF fighters overran their positions. These reinforcements as well as the defeated militias from Yabalu are reported to have made mountain Alaaba Yarey as a temporary military base.

Eyewitnesses told Ogaden Online reporter in Dhanan district that these defeated militias have barred movement of people and goods in the areas surrounding Yabalu. These same eyewitnesses told our reporter that revenge killings were exacted on the civilians in and around Yabalu. There are many missing civilians as a result of these revenge killings by the Ethiopian militias.

In a further attempt to put undue pressure on the Ogaden civilians, it is reported that Tigrey militias have firebombed an unknown number of houses belonging to the Ogaden civilians. Many civilians are said to be leaving these areas as a result of the killings and firebombing carried out by the defeated Tigrey militias.


Ogaden Online News