2 dead, premier unharmed in attack in Ethiopia

ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia remains in a state of shock following the deadly grenade attack on a political rally attended by the country’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in the capital Addis Ababa.

Ahmed, the new reformist premier, had just concluded a speech at the capital’s Meskel Square before tens of thousands of people on Saturday when the explosion went off, sending droves of supporters towards the stage as the prime minister was taken to safety.

Two people died and 156 were injured.

Questions are now being asked, especially by the younger generation from whom the new premier Ahmed draws a lot of support with his reformist agenda as to who was behind the attack and why.

In an address broadcast on state television after the attack, Ahmed said the blast was orchestrated by groups who wanted to undermine the rally but did not name them.

“The people who did this are antipeace forces. You need to stop doing this. You weren’t successful in the past and you won’t be successful in the future,” the premier said.

More answers may follow the interrogation of those who have been arrested and are being questioned by security forces.

Thirty people are in detention in relation to the attack while nine police officials, including the deputy head of the Addis Ababa police commission, have also been detained on the grounds of alleged security lapses, Al Jazeera reported.

Ahmed assumed office in April and immediately introduced a number of reforms including the release of jailed political dissidents and other government critics while moving to liberalise the economy.

Ethiopia went through a dark period beginning in 2015 when hundreds of people were killed in mass anti-government protests which initially erupted in the Oromia region, home to the Oromo Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group.

Approximately 20 000 people were arrested in the government crackdown, accompanied by human rights abuses and the curtailing of personal freedoms, that was condemned by human rights organisations.

Not only did Ahmed introduce significant political reforms but he also reached out with peace overtures to aggrieved opposition groups and to neighbouring Eritrea.

So why would a premier making much needed courageous moves be the target of such a heinous attack?

“Abiy’s effort to move the country forward has angered those who for a long time maintained a stronghold on the country’s politics and economy,” Mohammed Ademo, political commentator and founder of OPride.com, an independent news website on Ethiopia, told Al Jazeera.

“They are trying to scare people and undermine the prime minister so they can send a signal that he is not capable of stabilising the country,” Ademo said. – African News Agency (ANA)