Oromo rebels deny Ethiopian 'victory'

The army maintains it now controls western Ethiopia

Ethiopia's Oromo rebels have denied claims by the Ethiopian army that it had "completely annihilated" the armed separatist movement in the west of the country.

Speaking on the BBC's Focus on Africa programme, a spokesman of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), Lencho Batti, described the claims as false and fabricated.

We will never go away... we are still there

Lencho Batti, OLF

On Thursday, the army said its clashes with the OLF were finally over after its troops had destroyed four rebel battalions, killing 75 OLF members and capturing 523 others.

The OLF evolved from a political party into an armed movement nine years ago, claiming that the rights of the Oromo people - who make up almost 40% of Ethiopia's 65 million - were not being respected.

The OLF are now fighting Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's government for the independence of the Oromo region from the rest of Ethiopia.

Gambela offensive

"This is not the first time for the Ethiopian Government to claim to have totally crushed the OLF," Mr Batti told the BBC.

Zenawi opposes Oromo secession

"We will never go away ... we are still there."

He admitted, however, that OLF troops had sustained casualties in the fighting which has been raging in the Gambela region for the past two months since the OLF launched an offensive in the area.

"We still have our bases in the east, the south, in some part of the central and also the west.

"We have captured strategic areas and we are still operating in those areas."