Accusations against the ONLF by Ethiopian government spokesman Zemedkun Tekle yesterday claiming that we are responsible for a grenade attack at a private residence in the city of Jijiga in northern Ogaden has no basis in reality and is typical of TPLF efforts to seek to misrepresent our struggle to the international community. We wish to make clear that it is the policy of the ONLF not to deliberately harm civilians or carry out military operations targeting civilians.

Information gathered through our intelligence assets indicate that this attack was the result of a dispute between ethnic Tigrayan and non Tigrayan members of the Ethiopian armed forces and the home was targeted based on the fact that it was the residence of a TPLF member who hosted mourners for an ethnic Tigrayan soldier killed in our military operation on April 24th. It appears that a few ethnic Tigrayan soldiers were at the home who had earlier had a dispute with non Tigrayan soldiers in their unit based in Jijiga. Such disputes between Tigrayan and non Tigrayan members of the Ethiopian armed forces happen frequently.