Over 300 police officers suspected of links with separatists rebels have been arrested in Ethiopia's restive Ogaden region in a government crackdown, AFP reported citing a state news agency on Monday.

"Some 309 police officers suspected of having links with the anti-peace elements of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) have been apprehended," the report quoted Regional police commissioner Yussuf Mohammed as saying: It was not clear which state media was cited for the report.

The report said Yussuf did not give a time span but said "rebel hideouts" and communication avenues had been "wiped out" by government forces.

"We are in a position to completely destroy the ONLF in a very short period of time," he said.

Recent Ethiopian military campaign follows high-profile ONLF attacks in the region, including the April attack on the Chinese oil site at Obole and the May attacks on Jigjiga and Dhagahbur.

ONLF forces have also been responsible for serious abuses. An April attack on Obole, an oil field in northern Somali region, reportedly killed dozens of civilians, including nine Chinese oil workers, and at least 28 civilians working on a farm in nearby Sandhore village.

On May 28, ONLF fighters allegedly targeted two large gatherings in Jigjiga and Dhagahbur with hand grenades. The blasts, and the crowd stampedes that followed, killed 17 people and wounded dozens, including the regional president of Somali region.

In a June 9 news conference, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi stated that the Ethiopian military was launching a "political and military operation to try to contain the activities of the ONLF."

Source: The Daily Monitor (Ethiopia)