Ogaden National Liberation Front
Ogaden National Liberation Front Jabhadda Waddaniga Xoreynta Ogaadeeniya | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | ONLF, JWXO. |
| Leader | Sheikh Ibrahim Abdalla Mohamed ''MAH" (1991 - 1998) Mohammed Omar Osman (1998 - 2018) Abdirahman Mahdi (Since 2018) |
| Founded | 15 August 1984 |
| Split from | Western Somali Liberation Front |
| Ideology | Somali nationalism |
| Political position | Centre-left |
| Colors | Green, Blue, Red |
| Party flag | |
| Website | |
| http://onlf.org/ | |
The Ogaden National Liberation Front, abbreviated ONLF, (Somali: Jabhadda Waddaniga Xoreynta Ogaadeeniya, JWXO; Arabic: الجبهة الوطنية لتحرير أوجادين, romanized: Al-Jabhat al-wataniat litahrir 'Awjadin) is a Somali nationalist armed and political organization seeking self-determination for the Somali-inhabited Ogaden (Somali region) of eastern Ethiopia.
Founded in 1984 by former members of the Western Somali Liberation Front (WSLF), the ONLF initially pursued political autonomy through Ethiopia’s federal system after the collapse of the Derg regime during 1991. It won a regional majority in 1992, but growing disillusionment with the federal arrangement, political exclusion, and repression by the central government led the ONLF to launch an armed insurgency in 1994. Over the following decades, the group waged a sustained guerrilla campaign across the Somali Region, targeting Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) positions and resource extraction projects by the central government that it viewed as exploitative.
In 2018, the group signed a peace agreement with the new Ethiopian government led by Abiy Ahmed and transitioned into a legal political party, though tensions have resurfaced amid claims of unfulfilled promises and repression in the Somali Region.