Ogaden

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This article is about the geographical area. For the Somali clan, see Ogaden (clan).
ONLF flag
ONLF flag

Ogaden (pronounced and often spelled Ogadēn) is the international name of the Somali Regional State in Ethiopia. The inhabitants are predominantly ethnic Somali and Muslim. The title "Somali Galbeed", which means "Western Somalia," is often preferred by some clans.

The region, which is around 400,000 square kilometres, borders Djibouti, Kenya, and Somalia.[1] Important towns include Degehabur (Dhagaxbuur in Somali), Gode (Godey), Jijiga (Jigjiga), Kebri Dahar (Qabridahare), Shilavo (Shilaabo) and Werder (Wardheer).


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[edit] History

Map of Ethiopia highlighting the Somali Region.
Map of Ethiopia highlighting the Somali Region.

Ogaden was part of the Muslim Ifat Sultanate in the 13th & beginning of the 14th centuries. The sultante's borders extened to the Shoa - Addis Ababa area. Then the region was part of the Adal kingdom from late 14th to the last quarter of the 19th centuries. There was an ongoing conflict between the Adal kingdom and the Christian Kingdom of Abyssinia throughout this time. During the first half of the 16th century, most Abyssinian territory came under the rule of Adal, when Imam Ahmed Gurey, the leader of Adal's Army, took control.[2]


The region was conquered by Menelik II during the last quarter of the 19th century, and its boundary with British Somalialand was fixed by treaty in June, 1897.[3]

In practice, Ethiopia exerted little administrative control east of Jijiga until 1934 when an Anglo-Ethiopian boundary commission attempted to demarcate the treaty boundary. This boundary is still disputed. [4]

Following their conquest of Italian East Africa, the British sought to unify the Ogaden with British Somaliland and the former Italian Somaliland, to form Greater Somalia.[5] Ethiopia unsuccessfully pleaded before the London Conference of the Allied Powers to gain the Ogaden and Eritrea in 1945, but their persistent negotiations and pressure from the USA eventually persuaded the British in 1948 to abandon all of the Ogaden except for the northeastern part (called the Haud), and a corridor (called the Reserved Area) stretching from the Haud to French Somaliland (modern Djibouti). The British ceded these last parts to Ethiopia in 1954.[6]

In the late 1970s, internal unrest in the Ogaden Region resumed. The Western Somalia Liberation Front, spurred by Muktal Dahir, used guerrilla tactics to resist Ethiopian rule. Ethiopia and Somalia fought the Ogaden War over control of this region and its peoples. During the Somali invasion of the Ogaden, many civilians were killed and development works were destroyed. Daniel Kendie describes the consequences of the invasion:

"thousands of defenseless people were killed, and thousands were uprooted and made destitute. It observed that development projects worth millions of dollars in the eastern and southern parts of the country were destroyed. Schools, hospitals, bridges, farms, power plants, water supply systems, industrial plants, and even UN financed settlement projects for nomads were not spared. Whole villages and towns were razed to the ground." [7]

In 2007, the Ethiopian Army launched a military crackdown in Ogaden. The main rebel group is the Ogaden National Liberation Front under its Chairman Mohamed O. Osman, which is fighting to liberate the Ogaden from what they see as Ethiopian occupation. The Somalis who inhabit Ogaden claim that the Ethiopian military kill civilians, and destroy the livelihood of many of the ethnic Somalis. Numerous international rights organizations accuse the Ethiopian regime of committing abuses and crimes that "violate laws of war"[8] as a recent report by the Human Rights Watch indicates. The ONLF attacked a Chinese Oil company in Ogaden in April, 2007 killing 65 Ethiopians and 9 Chinese workers.[9] According to a US House of Representatives committee, the Ethiopian troops have killed people, tortured civilians and committed crimes against the nomads in the region. [10] In late 2007 and early 2008, VOA reported that 200 civilians had been killed by the ONLF. [11]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Gebru Tareke, "The Ethiopia-Somalia War of 1977 Revisited," in Board of Trustees, Boston University, The International Journal of African Historical Studies. Boston University African Studies Center, 2000, p. 636.
  2. ^ A History of the Ogaden (Western Somali) Struggle for Self - Determination, first edition(London:Mohamed Abdi , 2007), ps. 4-12.
  3. ^ Bahru Zewde, A History of Modern Ethiopia (London: James Currey, 1991), p. 113.
  4. ^ Lewis, Modern History, p. 61
  5. ^ Bahru Zewde, p. 180.
  6. ^ Bahru Zewde, p. 181.
  7. ^ result of Somalia invasion of Ogaden
  8. ^ Ethiopia: Crackdown in East Punishes Civilians (Human Rights Watch, 4-7-2007)
  9. ^ Connors, Will (2007-09-05). Why We Don't Hear About the Conflict in the Ogaden: When an American reporter started digging, he was forced out of Ethiopia.. Slate.
  10. ^ US Committee on Foreign Affairs on ONLF
  11. ^ 200 civilians reportedly killed by ONLF

[edit] Links