One dead, 15 hurt in Ethiopia’s blasts

Mar 27, 2006 (ADDIS ABABA) — One person died and 15 others were injured when five separate bombings shook the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Monday, with a minibus and a restaurant among the targets.

The first blast occurred about one kilometre (1000 yards) south of Addis Ababa’s central Meskel Square, police spokesman Demsach Hailu said.

“An explosion occurred in a minibus at around 9:00 am (0600 GMT). One person died,” he said.

“I was sitting in the back of the bus. It was full. I was on my way to work when suddenly it blew up,” said Mohamed Rachid, 30, who escaped with a broken nose and burns to a leg.

The bus was burnt out.

Demsach said a second explosion had rocked a government-owned abbatoire in the capital but there had been no casualties or damage. A third blast damaged a restaurant in the Mexico area, west of Addis Ababa, where police said 13 people had been injured.

Police said a fourth explosion had occurred in the capital’s northeastern Teklehaimanot district but had not caused any injuries.

The fifth blast took place at 7:00 pm (1600 GMT) in the east of the capital but caused no casualties or damages.

No one has claimed responsibility for the blasts.

Explosions have become common in the Ethiopian capital in recent months and authorities have heaped blame on separatist rebels from the Oromo Liberation Front and the Somali radical Islamist group, al-Itihaad al-Islamiya.

There have also been suspicions that neighbouring Eritrea, with which Ethiopia is engaged in a border stand-off, might bear some responsibility.

The two countries fought a war over the issue from 1998 to 2000 that cost at least 80,000 lives and tensions remain acute.

Earlier this month three grenades exploded in Addis Ababa, injuring four people. Later police accused Eritrea of supplying the grenades and helping “terrorists” explode them, a charge denied by Eritrea.

In January two grenades were thrown at a bank and a hospital, causing damage but no injuries.

Tension has been high in the capital since the deaths in June and November 2005 of at least 84 people — many at the hands of police. The deaths occurred after the opposition called protests against alleged fraud in the May 15 election.

(ST/AFP)