During the violence, 50 women, children, and elderly were wantonly cut into pieces. Such inhuman acts by the regime's killing squad called special force (Liyu Hayl) was committed in the area, the statement added. The statement further pointed out, the epicenters of these massacres are the villages of Lababaar, Xaadh Xaadh, Xindhowreed, and other villages near the Barmagoog and the Somali border area known as the Gal-Mudug region.

ESAT News (June 4, 2015)

Eyewitnesses told ESAT that Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and Ethiopian Security Forces had been battling at Ethio-Kenyan border for the last two weeks. The Ethiopian forces entered into Kenyan territory to hunt down OLF fighters and killed Boru Huka, a 55-year-old school guard, with several bullets.

The Ethiopian forces were pursuing Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) fighters inside Kenya where guerilla fighters were believed to hide and use the area as a springboard to attack government forces. The Ethiopian government claims that Kenyans bordering Ethiopia are used to shield OLF rebel forces.

Eleven locally recruited militiamen to fight OLF rebel groups were allegedly deserted the Ethiopian forces; later, Ethiopian special police pursuing them apprehended all eight militiamen. One of them was wounded during the exchange of fire; two were able to escape. It was reported that the militiamen had planned joining OLF rebels way before Ethiopian security forces recruited them.

In a related news, Somali press reported that 6 Ethiopian special force members were captured during exchange of fire with Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF). The Ethiopian government did not comment on the alleged capture of members of its special force by the ONLF.

ONLF sent a press release to ESAT that the special police forces (Liyu Hayl), trained in Shilaabo district of Ogaden near the Somali border, killed several civilians and burned down their villages. During the violence, 50 women, children, and elderly were wantonly cut into pieces. Such inhuman acts by the regime’s killing squad called special force (Liyu Hayl) was committed in the area, the statement added. The statement further pointed out, the epicenters of these massacres are the villages of Lababaar, Xaadh Xaadh, Xindhowreed, and other villages near the Barmagoog and the Somali border area known as the Gal-Mudug region.

The special force members committed such brutal acts after the villagers refused to pay monetary and cattle contribution levied on them. The special force members were angered to the extent of beheading the elderly and summarily executing children and women in these villages. The action was met with a resistance from other nearby villages; the police members gunned down women and children who were standing in front of them, the report added.

ONLF strongly condemned the regime’s defense force, which encouraged the Special Forces by providing training; weaponry and food amenities to take horrific measures against those who hold different views.

ONLF called on the international community, like several similar acts of crimes against humanity committed in the Ogaden region in the past, to send a fact-finding mission to Ogaden to conduct an investigation of these crimes. It is believed that the Ethiopian Defense force has committed horrendous human rights abuses in the region on several occasions in the past.

Similarly, Ethiopian soldiers have denied medical treatment to injured local residents of Guril town, according to Gobjob Radio. Omar Tarabi, Director of Istarlin Hospital said eight people have been denied medical services, and vehicles which carried injured patients were blocked from entering Gurill Town. International human rights organizations, on several similar instances, have reported on the magnitude of the crimes against humanity and gross violations of human rights committed by the Ethiopian regime forces in the region and the special force of the Ogaden region under their protective wing.

The Ethiopian government did not make a public comment on the alleged human rights violations.

It is reported that the fighting has continued for more than five days now.

Source :ESAT