The Ogaden National Liberation Front said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press that about 1,000 fighters attacked Ethiopian troops on Saturday in a southeastern area of Wardher, about 485 miles southeast of the capital, Addis Ababa.

``This is just a story created by the ONLF. I don't believe they have killed even one. I don't think it is true. We believe that ONLF is not in a position to make this kind of attack,'' government spokesman Zemedkun Tekle told The Associated Press.

It was not possible to independently verify the rebel claims because the area where the attack took place is remote.

``This operation was a direct response to the burning of Caado village recently and the continuing abuses against the people of Ogaden by (government) forces in the Wardher area,'' the rebels' statement said.

The Ogaden National Liberation Front has been fighting for greater autonomy for eastern Ethiopia, which is ethnically Somali. The government accuses the rebels of being terrorists funded by its archenemy Eritrea.

The group dramatically escalated its decade-long insurgency in eastern Ethiopia when in April it attacked a Chinese-owned oil exploration field, killing 74 workers. Until then, it had only made occasional hit-and-run attacks on government troops.

Since that attack, the army has intensified its counterinsurgency operations, during which aid and human rights groups say the military has burned villages and blocked aid and trade into the region. The government denies its forces have committed any violations.

Ethiopia ONLF rebels say killed 140 Ethiopian troops

(Recasts with ONLF threat, adds quote)

By Tsegaye Tadesse

ADDIS ABABA, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Ethiopia's Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) rebels said they killed 140 government soldiers in a weekend assault targeting a visiting senior official, a statement Ethiopia immediately denounced as false.

The ONLF also warned the government against using food as a political tool. The United Nations and the Ethiopian government have said they would begin working together to deliver food, after a crackdown on the ONLF hampered aid flows.

"We will fight the Ethiopian army if they try to block aid," ONLF spokesman Abdirahman Mahdi said from London.

The rebel group accuses the government of giving aid only to people who are allied with its militias. Ethiopa counters that it monitors the aid to make sure it is not diverted to insurgents in the arid east.

The rebels, who want more autonomy in the region of Ethiopia bordering Somalia, said the attack on Saturday wounded other troops protecting the senior official and said they seized ammunition and military hardware.

Both sides routinely claim to inflict large numbers of casualties on the other, but the reports are difficult to independently verify.

"This operation was a direct response to the burning of Caado village recently and the continuing abuses against the people of Ogaden," the ONLF said in a statement on Sunday.

The government immediately dismissed the rebel report as false information spread by ONLF supporters in Europe "who do not know the situation on the ground".

"The ONLF is not in a position to launch such an attack at this juncture. This is an attempt to hoodwink international opinion. Such things have never happened," Information Ministry spokesman Zemedhun Tekle said.

Mahdi challenged the government to allow independent media into the region, from which they are now barred, "if they claim nothing happened."

ADVISER TARGETED

The official the ONLF said was targeted was Abay Tsehaye, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's senior adviser for regional affairs. The ONLF said Abay escaped via helicopter with military officers after rebels blocked the roads.

Last week, the United Nations announced it had reached agreement with the government that would speed up aid flows and ensure relief supplies went to the neediest people.

The ONLF is an ethnically Somali group. The insurgency began in 1984 and has persisted at a low level since then.

It accuses the government of routinely harassing the population in the Ogaden and humanitarian organisations have confirmed reports of soldiers burning villages or restricting the flow of aid.

Ethiopia calls the ONLF a terrorist organisation backed by foe Eritrea. Though Asmara denies backing rebels, analysts say it funds and trains insurgent groups opposed to the Ethiopian government.

The ONLF in April attacked an oil field run by a Chinese company, killing at least 74 people including six Chinese oil workers.

The government responded with a major crackdown that drew criticism from humanitarian organisations that said it was blocking aid shipments.

Ethiopian rebels claim killing 140 government troops

AFP - thiopian rebels on Sunday claimed they had killed at least 140 government troops in an attack in the Ogaden region, where the army is carrying out a crackdown.

The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) said in a statement that almost 1,000 of its fighters attacked Ethiopian troops near Wardheer early Saturday, killing more than 140 troops, with "many more wounded".

Wardheer is about 650 kilometers (400 miles) southeast of Addis Ababa.

"Thousands of rounds of ammunition and military hardware, including communications equipment, were captured by ONLF forces during the operation," it added.

The army officers were escorting Abay Tsehaye, a senior official in the Ethiopian ruling party, when they came under attack.

"Abay Tsehaye and a few senior officers escaped by helicopter after all land routes out of the area were blocked by ONLF forces," it said.

It was impossible to confirm the claims. Journalists and aid workers are blocked from visiting the area, where the military is battling insurgents.

The rebels said the attack was "a direct response" to the burning of a village, Caado, and "abuses" of people in the Wardheer area by Ethiopian troops, the ONFL said.

The army launched a crackdown on the region, which is about the same size as Britain and has a population of about four million, following an attack by the ONLF against a Chinese oil venture in April that left 77 people dead.

The barren Ogaden region has long been extremely poor, but the discovery of gas and oil has brought new hopes of wealth as well as new causes of conflict.

Ethiopia accuses arch-foe Eritrea of supporting Ogaden separatists. The authorities in Asmara deny this.

Formed in 1984, the ONLF is fighting for the independence of ethnic Somalis in Ogaden, whom they say have been marginalised by Addis Ababa.

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