74 killed in attack on Ethiopia oil field
POSTED: 9:20 a.m. EDT, April 24, 2007

Story Highlights• Seven Chinese workers kidnapped during raid
• Ethiopian rebel group warned last year against projects in area
• China increasing presence in Africa as need for natural resources grows

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) -- Gunmen raided a Chinese-run oil field in eastern Ethiopia on Tuesday, killing 65 Ethiopians and nine Chinese workers, an official of the Chinese company said.

Seven Chinese workers were kidnapped in the morning attack at the oil installation in a disputed region near the Somali border, Xu Shuang, the general manager of Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau, said.

China has increased its presence in Africa in recent years in a hunt for oil and other natural resources to feed its rapidly growing economy. Its forays into areas considered politically unstable, however, has exposed Chinese workers to attacks.

No one claimed responsibility for Tuesday's raid, but an Ethiopian rebel group warned last year that any investment in the Ogaden area that also benefited the Ethiopian government "would not be tolerated."

The Ogaden National Liberation Front is fighting a low-level insurgency with the aim of creating an independent state for ethnic Somalis. Somalia lost control of the region in a war in 1977.

The rebel group also has been fighting Ethiopian troops inside Somalia, where Ethiopia has been backing the government in crushing an Islamic movement and re-establishing control over the country.

In Nigeria, armed militants seeking a greater share of that country's oil wealth kidnapped nine Chinese oil workers in January, and two more in March. Two were still being held, though hostages are normally released unharmed in Nigeria, after a ransom is paid.

Also in March in Nigeria, five Chinese telecommunications workers were abducted for two weeks.