Ogaden National Liberation Front

The Ogaden National Liberation Front, abbreviated ONLF, (Somali: Jabhadda Waddaniga Xoreynta Ogaadeeniya, JWXO; Arabic: الجبهة الوطنية لتحرير أوجادين, romanized: Al-Jabhat al-wataniat litahrir 'Awjadin) is a Somali nationalist armed and political organization seeking self-determination for the Somali-inhabited Ogaden.

Founded in 1984 by former members of the Western Somali Liberation Front (WSLF), the ONLF initially pursued political autonomy through Ethiopia’s federal system after the collapse of the Derg regime during 1991. It won a regional majority in 1992, but growing disillusionment with the federal arrangement, political exclusion, and repression by the central government led the ONLF to launch an armed insurgency in 1994. Over the following decades, the group waged a sustained guerrilla campaign across the Somali Region, targeting Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) positions and resource extraction projects by the central government that it viewed as exploitative.

In 2018, the group signed a peace agreement with the new Ethiopian government led by Abiy Ahmed and transitioned into a legal political party, though tensions have resurfaced during 2025 amid claims of unfulfilled promises and repression in the Somali Region. On 18 January 2026, in Jigjiga, the ONLF, Congress for Somali Cause (CSC), and the Somali Regional Democratic Alliance (SRDA) announced the formation of the Somali People’s Alliance for Self-Determination (SPAS). The alliance stated its creation was to unify the "Somali political agency" and end the "era of futile negotiation" with the Ethiopian government, which they accuse of repression and policies threatening Somali livelihoods.