Ethiopia’s Conflict in the Ogaden Region of Somalia Regional State

1166 Words3 Pages

For decades there has been an ongoing dispute of the Ogaden region of Eastern Ethiopia. The Ogaden region is in Ethiopia’s Somalia Regional State which borders Somalia. Several battles between the Somalis people in that region and the Ethiopian military has left the Ogaden area war torn. Current conflicts between the Ethiopian military and the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) have forced Ethiopia to put more troops in the area. With escalating tensions in the region both sides continue to employ tactics that are viewed by the international communities as war crimes. The conflict between the two organizations is impacting the efforts that the US is trying to conduct in Ethiopia and the humanitarian effort going on in Somalia. I am going to give a few examples of the ongoing issues and try and determine if there is a peaceful resolution to the conflicts.

According to Seid (2009), up until the 1970’s the conflict between the Ethiopians and the Somalis in the Ogaden region was based mostly on religion. The Ethiopian military has a more Christian view while the Somalis have more of an Islamic view. However, from the 1970s up to today, the desire for nationalism of the Ogaden population has played a main role in the conflict, even though religion is still intertwined in the conflict. The Somalis of the Ogaden region and the Ethiopians both have a we versus them mentality. The Somalis do not recognize the power of the Ethiopians versus the Ethiopians view of the Somalis as being foreigner in their country.

The most well know clash between these two groups occurred in 2007 when the Ethiopians claim the ONLF massacred 74 individuals, including 69 Ethiopians and 5 Chinese in the Ogaden region (Ababa 2007). The Ethiopi...

... middle of paper ...

...

Works Cited

Ababa, A. (2007, April 27). Ethiopia - terrorist group onlf massacred 74 in ogaden, ethiopia. Retrieved from http://nazret.com/blog/index.php/2007/04/24/onlf-massacred-74-in-ogaden

Collective punishment. (2008, June). Retrieved from http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/ethiopia0608-1.pdf

ONLF. (2009, June 03). Oil exploration in the ogaden. Ogaden Online. Retrieved from http://www.ogaden.com/hornnews/ogaden/273-onlf-press-release-oil-exploration-in-the-ogaden.html

Seid, M. (2009, January 26). The role of religion in the ogaden conflict. Retrieved from http://hornofafrica.ssrc.org/mealin/index3.html

U.S. Department of State. (2011, November 10). Ethiopia. Retrieved from http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2859.htm

[Web log message]. (2011, July 13). Retrieved from

http://aipr.wordpress.com/2011/07/13/genprev-in-the-news-13-july-2011

Open Document