After carrying out careful police and intelligence operations, it was possible to guarantee the [liberation] of the soldiers, says a statement from the Foreign Ministry.

The actions were supported by the Afar regional state administration and the soldiers were handed over to the government of Djibouti, with whom the Ethiopian authorities cooperate on peace and security issues, it said.

The soldiers went missing on October 6th after an attack perpetrated by the FRUD on a barrack located in the Tadjourah region, in Djibouti.

As a consequence of the aggression, condemned by nearly all African countries, seven soldiers died and four were wounded.

The executive secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority for East African Development, Workneh Gebeyehu, issued a statement condemning the action in the “strongest possible terms” and called it a “criminal and cowardly act.”

Djibouti blamed the Front for the attack and considered it a terrorist group “for its proceedings of violence and looting in remote areas of the country,” in addition announced the start of maneuvers to find the missing personnel.

jrr/llp/jf/raj