ETHIOPIA:Ethiopia's military machine has forced thousands of civilians from their homes in the country's eastern Somali region as it escalates its campaign against separatist rebels, according to a report by Human Rights Watch.
Eyewitnesses told researchers that government soldiers had burned homes and destroyed food stocks as they cracked down on the Ogaden National Liberation Front.
However, the separatist movement is also condemned for attacks on civilians.
Peter Takirambudde, Africa director of the New York-based human rights watchdog, said: "Ethiopian troops are destroying villages and property, confiscating livestock and forcing civilians to relocate. Whatever the military strategy behind them, these abuses violate the laws of war."
The rebels are fighting for the independence of Ogaden's ethnic Somali population, in an arid region where roads, power and water are scarce. It is one of Ethiopia's least developed regions but was turned into a battleground in the 1970s as Somalia fought to reclaim one of its former territories.
The Ethiopian government announced a major offensive against the ONLF rebels, after they attacked a Chinese-run oil exploration field, killing 74 people, in April.
Since then the government has imposed a trade blockade on the impoverished Ogaden region. Troops have also burned or ordered civilians to flee at least a dozen villages in the eastern region, according to the report.
On June 18th in Labiga village, Ethiopian forces allegedly killed 21 villagers who resisted having their livestock taken. The report adds: "Ethiopia security forces are also responsible for arbitrary detentions in the larger towns, particularly of family members of suspected ONLF members."
It also points out that civilians have suffered at the hands of rebels.
Seventeen people died and dozens more were injured after ONLF fighters threw hand grenades at two large gatherings.
Much of the testimony comes from refugees who have fled to Somaliland.
"Civilians in the Somali region are trapped between the warring parties," said Mr Takirambudde.
"The Ethiopian government appears to be pursuing an illegal strategy of collective punishment of the civilian population, and the ONLF has targeted civilians for attack."
Addis Ababa has come in for increasing criticism of its human rights record since flawed elections in 2005, when demonstrators were gunned down in the street.
At one time Meles Zanawi was hailed as a new breed of African leader, the sort of prime minister with whom the West could do business after ousting the brutal dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam.
Tony Blair invited Meles to join his Commission for Africa but relations worsened as political opponents and newspaper editors were arrested.
However, the US continues to rely on Addis Ababa as an ally in the war on terror, something of a bulwark against radical Islam in the Horn of Africa.
ONLF leaders are believed to have been frequent visitors to Somalia while its capital was in the hands of the Union of Islamic Courts last year.
UN arms monitors believe the rebels have been receiving arms from Eritrea, which is intent on destabilising Ethiopia as part of a border dispute.
Bereket Simon, an adviser to the Ethiopian prime minister, insisted yesterday that the Human Rights Watch report was biased. "The accusations are simply baseless, they don't show the real situation in Ethiopia," he said.
Life in Ogaden is tough. Blistering heat and lack of infrastructure mean development has been slow to reach the region.
During the rainy season, entire districts and provinces can be cut off from one another for weeks. However, its empty land is thought to hide large quantities of gas and minerals although rebel activity has so far prevented extensive exploration.