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By Tesfa-Alem Tekle
February 26, 2011 (ADDIS ABABA) – Ethiopian and Kenyan joint forces have arrested at least 120 Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) fighters in a crackdown near the East African countries common border.
Earlier in November Kenyan authorities said that their forces in cooperation with Ethiopian forces have launched a joint operation aimed to wipe-out the rebels and secure the border line.
The operation would continue following reports that some members of the rebel group had acquired Kenyan citizenship illegally.
Kenyan newspaper, the Daily Nation quoting the deputy provincial commissioner for Upper Eastern region, Wenslas Ong’wayo, as saying:
“These people speak the local dialect and it may be hard to distinguish them from the locals but the locals themselves are volunteering information that will lead to their arrest.”
The commissioner said among the detainees 45 are rebel commanders. He added that 30 members had been deported. Grenades, guns and missiles have also been recovered.
The commissioner further said that the joint operation will continue until all the OLF rebels are flushed out.
During the Kenyan offensive the Ethiopian security forces are attempting is to guard the border to prevent the rebels from escaping back into Ethiopia.
The OLF is a political organization established in 1973 by Oromo nationalists to fight against what they describe as "Ethiopia colonial rule" and discrimination against the Oromo ethnic group.
Ethiopia alleges that the Oromo rebels have been defeated in a wave of military operations carried out in the past years and says are no more threats inside the country. However, OLF fighters claim to still be active enough to battle Ethiopian forces.
In the past, the rebel group had launched on and off attacks mainly targeting Ethiopian military forces.
Addis Ababa also holds the group responsible for a number of bomb blasts carried out in the capital Addis Ababa and elsewhere in the country.
The rebel group has long been designated as a terrorist group by the Ethiopian government.
(ST)
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