From CNN: 74 killed in attack on Ethiopia oil field
Gunmen raided a Chinese-run oil field in eastern Ethiopia on Tuesday, killing 65 Ethiopians and nine Chinese workers, an official of the Chinese company said.
Seven Chinese workers were kidnapped in the morning attack at the oil installation in a disputed region near the Somali border, Xu Shuang, the general manager of Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau, said.
From another source:
About 200 unidentified gunmen launched a sudden attack about 6 a.m. local time on Tuesday at the working field, which is located in Abole, a small town about 120 km away from the state's capital Jijiga, Xu told Xinhua.
The gunmen briefly took control of the working field after an exchange of fire with over 100 soldiers protecting the field, Xu said. The attack lasted about 50 minutes.
more after the fold
Who attacked that oilfield? noone has officially claimed it, but...
The Ogaden National Liberation Front operates in the area and it has been fighting a low-level war since 1984.
They have threatened other oil operations in the area. Ogaden rebels challenge Ethiopia oil deal
In a message to chairman Ian Lundin of the Swedish oil company - of which afrol News has received a copy - the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) warns against any oil deals in the troubled Ogaden province of Ethiopia. The ONLF fights for autonomy or inclusion into Somalia for the Ogaden region, which is dominated by ethnic Somalis and only became Ethiopian in the 20th century.
and
"The areas covered by the Production Sharing Contract signed between you and the Ethiopian regime are well within our scope of military operations and as such the security of your operations cannot be guaranteed," the ONLF statement says. "We therefore strongly advise you against this planned investment given the current conflict which exists between our troops and those of the Ethiopian regime."
The Ogaden people are ethnically Somalia's, so the chaos in Somalia is adding more fuel to the fire. Ethiopian troops are in Somalia fighting "rebels".
examples:Somalia's third suicide bomb, fighting resumes
Reports on Friday, said that at least 21 people have been killed as fighting raged again in Mogadishu between Ethiopian backed Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) troops and insurgents.
and
Mogadishu fighting claims 293 and wounds 587, says Hawiye clan committee
An evaluating committee appointed by Mogadishu’s powerful clan, Hawiye, presented Tuesday the number of people killed in the latest fighting between Somali government troops backed by Ethiopian military forces and Islamist insurgents along with the clan militias.
In its report, the committee said that 293 Somali civilians were killed, 587 were wounded while loss of property damages were estimated around 600 Million US dollars and 80,000families fled the capital from 19 to 23 April. The report was read to Shabelle by the committee spokesperson, Hussein Siad Qoorgaab.
However, as bad as the fighting between Ethiopian troops and ethnic Somali's is... in this attack 9 Chinese workers were killed and 7 were kidnaped.
Chinese influence in the region is strong and this will be a test for them. What will they do? How hard are they going to try to find and punish the people that killed and kidnaped their citizens?
If they do nothing then attacks on Chinese will probably increase. IF they push to hard, they'll hurt their influence in the region.
thank you for reading
jeff