Ethiopian soldiers exchanged fire with members of local government security forces on in the country’s eastern Somali region after central authorities sought to arrest regional officials, via social media witnesses report scenes of violence.
Soldiers were deployed in the province’s capital Jijiga leading to a conflict with the region’s paramilitary forces.
Ethiopia’s Somali region has been plagued by violence for the last two decades. The government has fought the rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) since 1984 after the group claimed secession of the region, also known under name of Ogaden.
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