2 July 2009 01:16Ahmed, 35, is a member of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), one of a number of separatist groups fighting for the independence of the Somali-speaking Ogaden region in the east of Ethiopia.
The previous evening, he had participated in an attack against Ethiopian troops near the town of Babile.
"The assault lasted only a few minutes but we managed to kill nine government soldiers," he said.
"We are no match for direct combat, so we must rely on quick surprise attacks."
The armed resistance began in 1994 after the ONLF, then a political organisation, broached the idea of splitting from Ethiopia.
The central government responded by imprisoning Ogaden leaders and, according to academics and human rights groups, assassinating others.
'Point of no-return'
"In 1994, as a student in Dire Dawa, I was not allowed take the final examinations because I was an Ogadenian," said Ahmed.
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"I was arrested two years later on false charges of belonging to the ONLF. They kept me there for four years and I was beaten repeatedly, sometimes even subjected to electric torture. While in detention, my father was killed by government soldiers."
On his release in 2001, he immediately joined the rebellion but his mother remains in jail in Jijiga.
Fearing for his family, Ahmed convinced his wife to flee with their two daughters.
"They are refugees in Kenya, I haven't seen them for three years.
"There comes a point of no-return when you know you don't belong in this country," he said... full report
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