By AFPMore by this AuthorADDIS ABABA,Ethiopia has said some 1,000 fighters with the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) rebel group have given up arms and entered rehabilitation camps, according to state media. Popular among the largest ethnic group, the Oromo, the OLF fell out with the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) in 1992 and soon began launching armed attacks. "The insecurity in parts of Oromia, where OLF fighters used to operate, had led to the suspension of basic government services including education, but now with OLF fighters abandoning armed struggle, the government can focus now on development works," he added. The Oromos are the largest of Ethiopia's some 80 ethnic groups, with 35 percent of the nation's nearly 80 million inhabitants. After the fall of Ethiopia's Marxist regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991, the OLF was part of the country's transitional government.

Source: Daily Nation February 15, 2019 12:11 UTC