QABRI DAHAR, Southeastern Ethiopia - Twenty-six army officers were killed when Ogaden rebels in the remote southeastern Ethiopian region shot down an army helicopter on Wednesday July the 18th, Ogaden Online has reported.
Citing local sources in the predominantly Somali-inhabited Ogaden region, the source said eight of the dead were senior army commanders reportedly heading for a regional meeting in Qabri Dehar, about 1200 km southeast of Addis Ababa. The attack helicopter was downed near a locality called Gaba Gabo, 70 km northeast of Qabri Dahar.
Rebels of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) have been fighting for independence from Ethiopia.
The Ogaden region has been a long time hotspot of armed conflicts between Ethiopian and Somali forces. At present, Ethiopian tyrant Meles Zenawi has deployed troops in the central Somali town of Baidoa on what the dictator said was to protect the interim Somali government from a takeover by Islamist militias.
