Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed
ADDIS ABABA, Feb 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A bomb attack on a rally in support of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed injured nearly 30 people, a police official said, in the latest sign of instability ahead of elections in August.
The incident occurred in the town of Ambo, located roughly 100 kilometres west of the capital, Addis Ababa.
“The bomb attack on a rally for Dr. Abiy has injured 29 people, of whom 28 have been treated and sent home,” Arasa Merdasa, the top police official in Ethiopia’s Oromia region, where Ambo is located, told the state-run Ethiopian News Agency.
“Police have arrested six people who are suspected in the attack,” Arasa said.
Ethiopia’s electoral board has scheduled landmark national polls for Aug 29.
The formal campaign period begins in May.
Abiy did not attend Sunday’s rally, which was organised by officials in Ambo.
Arasa said Sunday’s attack was believed to be the work of the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), the breakaway armed wing of the Oromo Liberation Front, an opposition party.
Officials have also blamed the OLA for the assassination on Friday of the top security official in Burayu, another Oromia town located on the outskirts of Addis Ababa.
That attack left three other people injured, and police “vowed to hunt down” those responsible, state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate reported. — NNN-AGENCIES
