It was waged by nationalist and islamist Somali insurgent groups seeking self determination for the region, primarily the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) and Al-Itihaad Al-Islamiya (AIAI).

[22][23][24] Coinciding with the European colonial advances in the Horn of Africa during the late 1880s, Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II launched invasions into Somali inhabited territory.

The Ogaden region faced the brunt of the imperial military campaigns, during which the Ethiopian Empire imported a significant amount of firearms from European powers.

Sporadic tax raids into the region often failed and Ethiopian administrators and military personnel only resided in major cities of Jijiga and Harar.

After the Somali defeat in 1978, the Ogaden was turned into a militarized zone where population transfers were conducted in order to quell any signs of sedition.

[30] During June 1991, the first general conference from Al-Itihaad Al-Islamiya was held in the Ogaden region, publicly establishing the organization and leadership in the territory.

[6] On 17 January 1992, at Garigo'an near Garbo, an Ogaden National Liberation Front central committee led by Sheikh Ibrahim Abdallah was elected.

[34] On 11 August 1992, Ethiopian government forces ambushed Al-Itihaad, killing the organizations top leaders and two dozen other high ranking figures.

Recent success in curbing the rise of organizations like the Oromo Liberation Front encouraged the Ethiopian government to eradicate Al-Itihaad before it had grown firm roots in the region.

[6] Since 1992, the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) dominated EPRDF sought to curb Somali demands for self-determination by influencing politics in the region.

While the ONLF was effectively composed of numerous differing groups, the governments political interference and brutal counterinsurgency measures led many Somalis in the Ogaden to rally behind it.

Two days later a battle took place in the towns of Alen and Garas Qalo, security forces suffered 60 fatalities and lost 2 army trucks, 41 rebels were also killed in the fighting.

[41] On 2 October 2005, the town of Gasan and an army base located in the district of Kebri Dehar came under a militant attack, 5 soldiers were slain and 6 wounded.

[42] On 21 May 2006 the ONLF entered into an alliance with five different Ethiopian opposition groups in an effort to strengthen the resistance to the TPLF dominated central government.

[44] The Ethiopian government took advantage of the War on Terror to routinely label opposition movements terrorists,[45] and accused the ONLF of being associated with and linked to Al-Qaeda.

"[48] On 23 July 2006, the ONLF announced the downing of an ENDF transport helicopter heading for Somalia and warned that Ethiopian military movements in the region pointed towards an imminent large scale operation.

[50] On December 23 2006, the ONLF reported attacking Ethiopian military column that was heading to Somalia, destroying several vehicles, inflicting casualties and driving the convoy back.

[59] On 22 January 2008, a government official announced the death of former top guerrilla commander Mohamed Sirad Dolal, following an operation in the Denan woreda of the Gode zone.

[65] Between 16–17 March 2012, according to a Human Rights Watch report, Ethiopian special police forces executed 10 civilians and looted dozens of shops in the village of Raqda, the attack came as a retaliation for the recent death of several policemen.

[66] Between 10 – 24 October 2013, ONLF carried out attacks on 13 military outposts in the Korehey and Nogob zones, the faction claimed to have killed 24 soldiers during the operation.

The incident took place amidst an escalation in fighting following the death of ONLF commander Mustafe Haybe, two journalists and allegedly 120 government soldiers in recent engagements.

[70] In 2018, the Ethiopian government launched a number of reforms, part of which were removing the ONLF from its list of banned movements and offering the rebels more attractive peace deals.

The ONLF declared a ceasefire in August and signed an official peace deal in October, promising to disarm and transform into a political party.

[72] Despite the peace deal holding and the ONLF being a legally recognized party, in September 2024 Ethiopian military chief Field Marshall Birhanu Jula accused the front of being an 'enemy of the state' which had been allegedly created by Egypt.

Ethiopian soldiers and policemen have reportedly participated in numerous instances of rape, arbitrary detention, selective killings, torture and vandalism.