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Fierce
Battle reported in the outskirts of Fiiq |
Jan 02,
2008 Reports that reached our service
desk from the city of Fiiq confirm a fierce
battle that took place in the outskirts of
the city on Wednesday December 26th, 2007.
It is reported that this fierce firefight
took place in an area known as Cagajiid,
which is about fifteen kilometers east of
the city.
As indicated by eyewitnesses on the ground,
many Tigray People Liberation Front, TPLF,
militias and a local militia consisting
mainly of civil servants of the so-called
local administration, left the city for
Cagajiid where it was reported that a large
contingent of the Ogaden National Liberation
Front, ONLF, military personnel were present
at the time.
Locals reported that ONLF reconnaissance
units succeeded in getting information of
the impending attack plans of the TPLF and
the local militia, which was spearheaded by
the man known as Abdi Ileey who claims to be
the head of the security bureau for the
local administration.
The locals who were at the time passing
through the area indicated that ONLF was
able to position itself in both the main
road that passes through the town as well as
many of the straits that dot Cagajiid to
prepare for a well coordinated ambush. This
version of ONLF plans was later confirmed by
a member of the civil servants conscripted
to be part of the militia that went to
Cagajiid.
The civil servant intimated to our reporter
that knowing how a conventional armed
movement operates, they avoided the main
road as to avoid possible ONLF ambushes.
However he said, they encountered
well-entrenched ONLF units in the straits
that they thought ONLF would not be
positioning itself.
This source said that these units were able
to annihilate many of the TPLF and the local
Somali militia. He added that ONLF succeeded
in capturing at least two thirds of the TPLF
and the local militia personnel.
Furthermore this eyewitness reported that
the units that caused the most damage were
reported to be way less than those ONLF
units that he said we later found out were
the most armed and with the most weaponry
and numbers. It is confirmed by locals that
victorious ONLF units dug more trenches in
preparation for any counter attack from TPLF
and its associated local militia.
Fiiq city dwellers confirmed so far that up
to four Somali men who were members of the
conscripted civil servants have been among
the many injured. Up to the time of filing
this report though our reporters in the area
have not been able to get an accurate number
of the dead and injured on this fierce
battle.
Having realized the magnitude of the
military loss, the heads of the TPLF
militias immediately ordered the conscripted
civil servants together with a reinforced
TPLF militia to wage a counter attack to the
ONLF units positioned in Cagajiid. However,
many of the local militia members mutinied
and refused to be part of any attack or
counter attack plans against ONLF units in
Cagajiid.
Our reporters in the city indicate that the
city and its environs have lately witnessed
some of the fiercest battles between ONLF
and TPLF and its local conscripts. It is
reported that given its strategic value,
ONLF positioned many more well trained and
well-equipped military personnel in this
area. This they say resulted in the last
three months alone the loss of more than 330
TPLF militia personnel and many unaccounted
for local conscripts.
--Ogaden Online News |
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