By Anita Powell in Addis Ababa
The Guardian
Rebels stormed a Chinese-run oilfield in eastern Ethiopia yesterday, killing 74 workers and destroying the facility, guerrillas and government officials said.
The Ogaden National Liberation Front, an ethnic Somali group that has fought alongside insurgents in Somalia, also kidnapped seven Chinese workers, said an Ethiopian government official, Bereket Simon. “This was a cold blooded killing,” Mr Bereket, a special adviser to the Ethiopian prime minister, Meles Zenawi, told Associated Press. “This was organised.”
The rebel group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement sent to AP. It also warned all international oil companies not to operate in the region.
China’s official Xinhua News Agency identified the Chinese workers and Ethiopian guards as employees of the Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau, a division of a huge state-run oil company.
Xu Shuang, the general manager of Zhongyuan, based in Addis Ababa, said nine of its Chinese oil workers were killed, seven Chinese workers were kidnapped and 65 Ethiopians were killed.
The attack took place early on Tuesday morning in Abole, a small town 75 miles from the Somali regional state’s capital Jijiga, close to the Somali border. Mr Bereket said several Ethiopian soldiers were wounded in the gunbattle. “The army is pursuing them. We will track them down dead or alive. We will make sure these people will be hunted and be brought to justice.”
He said the group was also linked to the Eritrean government, which Ethiopia has repeatedly accused of waging terror attacks. Eritrea denies the claims.
The countries fought a border war that ended in 2000 and are accused of backing rival sides in the Somali conflict.
China has increased its presence in Africa in recent years in the hunt for oil to fuel its rapidly growing economy. But forays into politically unstable areas have exposed Chinese workers to attacks.
The Ogaden National Liberation Front warned last year that it would not tolerate investment in the Ogaden area that also benefited the Ethiopian government.
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