ETHIOPIA:About 200 rebel gunmen swept through a Chinese installation in a remote region of Ethiopia yesterday, killing 74 oil workers and soldiers.
The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), a rebel group with links to the ousted Islamic Courts movement in Somalia, later claimed responsibility. It is fighting for a separate homeland for the Ogaden region's population of Somali nomads with the backing of Eritrea.
Bereket Simon, spokesman for the Ethiopian prime minister, said the attack was an act of terrorism. "This is a cowardly act that has been done under the cover of night," he said by telephone from the capital Addis Ababa.
"They have been planting bombs in many places, but this is the first time they have killed so many people in cold blood."
He said reinforcements had been sent to the oil field in Abole, about 80 miles from the state capital Jijiga, in the southeast of the country.
The death toll included nine Chinese oil workers and 65 Ethiopians. A Chinese oil worker who witnessed the attack said about 200 gunmen arrived at 5am.
They opened fire on 100 soldiers guarding the site in a battle that lasted almost an hour, said Xu Shuang, acting manager of the oil company involved. He said the gunmen briefly took control of the oil field before escaping with another seven hostages.
China has embarked on major search for oil across Africa to feed its booming economy.
However, these activities in Ethiopia attracted the attention of the ONLF which warned it would target foreign operations on Ogaden soil.
A statement released by the Ogaden rebels has warned that similar action would be taken against other oil companies.
"The ONLF has stated on numerous occasions that we will not allow the mineral resources of our people to be exploited by this regime or any firm that it enters into an illegal contract [ with the government], so long as the people of Ogaden are denied their rights to self-determination."
The ONLF has received arms and ammunition from Eritrea in the past and has ties to the ousted Union of Islamic Courts in Somalia.
David Shinn, a former US ambassador to Ethiopia, said the scale of the attack was unprecedented and could be linked to Addis Ababa's role in Somalia.
"In the past, ONLF attacks have been significantly more modest than this, so to put together that size of a group - if the reports are accurate - is very surprising," he said.