Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, President of Djibouti
Mogadishu (HOL) - Djibouti has listed the FRUD-Armé militant group, which advocates for greater autonomy for the Afar ethnic group, as a terrorist organization on Thursday.
Djibouti's parliament decided after accusing FRUD of attacking a Djiboutian army barracks and killing seven Djiboutian troops in the country's north last Friday. Four soldiers were seriously injured, and six are still missing.
A spokesperson for the group denied involvement in the attack, instead blaming a splinter group.
The armed attack on a Djiboutian army drew condemnation from Djibouti's friends in the international community.
FRUD was formed in 1991 by merging three Afar groups and launched a rebellion against Djibouti's Issa-dominated government.
Following a peace deal in 1994, FRUD split into two factions, one of which - The FRUD-Armé - relaunched an insurgency against Djibouti's government, primarily through small-arms attacks in the larger Obock-Tadjourah-Assa-Gueyla triangle and northern regions of the Dikhil region.
Before last week's attack, Djibouti officials say the FRUD's last strike by FRUD came in January 2021, when a policeman was killed.
Djibouti designates Afar rebel group as a terrorist organization
Mogadishu (HOL) - Djibouti has listed the FRUD-Armé militant group, which advocates for greater autonomy for the Afar ethnic group, as a terrorist organization on Thursday.
