Invasion force repulsed in Ogaden, Ethiopia says

August 8, 1980

The Ethiopian Army recently drove back an invasion force from Somalia which swept into the disputed Ogaden Desert east of here, an Ethiopian Information Ministry spokesman said Wednesday night. He said 1,300 Somalis were killed and more than 2,000 wounded when Ethiopian troops attacked the 14,000-member mechanized force, backed by three infantry brigades. The toll was the highest since the eight-month war between the two east African neighbors ended in March 1978. Somalia launched the war in an attempt to seize the Ogaden but was driven out by the Ethiopians, backed by Cuban troops and using Soviet equipment.