Ethiopian security forces in Jigjiga, the administrative capital of Ethiopian-controled Somali Ogaden region have arrested several Somali officials including lawmakers who were on a government mission.

According to lawmaker Abdirahman Kulmiye, the officials including lawmakers Abdullahi Mohammed Farey and Hussein Gaagale were being held for several days now in a cell without any good reasons.

“We received the news that the lawmakers were arrested together with some high ranking Somali military officers,” Kulmiye told reporters in Mogadishu.

“We don’t know why they were arrested because they have their identifications as lawmakers and are on government mission,” he added.

Reliable sources however say the officials were forced to cross the border into the Ethiopian side after coming under attack from Somali militant fighters.

On Tuesday, the deputy Speaker of the interim Somali parliament Osman Elmi Boqorre said the issue was discussed at the parliamentary levels and urged the Somali government to front the issue to Addis Ababa to secure the release of the officials.

Addis Ababa is a tern supporter of the embattled western-backed transition federal government, which was created in neighbouring Djibouti more than a year ago.

GAROWE ONLINE