ONLF rebels disarm to unite with Somali state forces

Ethiopia’s Somali regional state on Friday signed an agreement to disarm and reintegrate members of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) into the state’s security forces and civil service.

ONLF was one of the organisations that were previously labelled terrorist organizations until the Ethiopia prime minister Abiy Ahmed led government introduced political reforms that called upon rebels and Ethiopians in exile to return home.

The Somali state and ONLF also agreed to work together to end decades of poverty, human rights abuse and maladministration of the Somali people, according to local media portal Addis Standard.

Hundreds of Somalis celebrated the historic agreement in the state’s capital of Jigjiga.