ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - A human rights group accused the Ethiopian army on Wednesday of burning homes and displacing thousands of civilians in a crackdown on rebels in the volatile east.
The report, by New York-based Human Rights Watch, cited witnesses who said the army burned villages and blocked humanitarian aid to the Ogaden region, where ethnic Somali rebels have been fighting the government for more than a decade. The report also said troops were seen firing on fleeing civilians "in a few cases."
"Ethiopian troops are destroying villages and property, confiscating livestock and forcing civilians to relocate," said Peter Takirambudde, Africa director of Human Rights Watch.
The government last month announced a crackdown on Ogaden National Liberation Front rebels, who attacked a Chinese-run oil exploration field in April, killing 74 people.
Bereket Simon, special adviser to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, denied the Human Rights Watch accusations.
"The facts on the ground are absolutely different from what they say," Bereket said.
He added that the army tries to ensure civilians are not harmed as Ethiopian forces chase out rebels.
"This is an army that does not target civilians," he said. "That is outside the constitutional mandate of the army and they are not going to do it."
Human Rights Watch also condemned the ONLF, saying civilians are trapped between warring parties.
"The Ethiopian government appears to be pursuing an illegal strategy of collective punishment of the civilian population, and the ONLF has targeted civilians for attack," Takirambudde said.
The ONLF is fighting to overthrow the government for what it says are human rights abuses in the eastern Ogaden region of Ethiopia and to establish greater autonomy.
The ONLF claimed to have ambushed and killed 43 soldiers on Tuesday, but a government spokesman denied any fighting took place.
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