One killed, 154 injured as blast hits Ethiopian PM's rally
ADDIS ABABA, June 23, 2018
At least one person was killed and 154 others injured in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa after an explosion at a rally for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Atleast 10 of the injured ones are in critical condition, reported the state media.
Ahmed was quoted by the Ethiopia TV as terming the act of terror an "unsuccessful attempt by forces who do not want to see Ethiopia united".
He was whisked away immediately after the blast, thought to be from a grenade thrown amid thousands of people in Addis Ababa's Meskel Square.
The capital's deputy chief of police is in custody over security lapses, reported BBC.
A further eight policemen have been detained and are under investigation for failing to secure the site, it stated.
Ethiopia's health minister said in a press statement that one person had died and 154 were injured, 10 of them critically, it added.
Ahmed is the country's first leader from the ethnic Oromo group, which has been at the centre of nearly three years of anti-government protests that have left hundreds of people dead.
The 42-year-old, who was born in the city of Agaro in Oromia and comes from a mixed Christian-Muslim family, joined the OPDO in the late 1980s.
He has served in the military, founded the country's Information Network and Security Agency, which is responsible for cyber-security in a country where the government exercises tight control over the internet, and then became the minister for science and technology, reported BBC.
Since taking office he has begun passing a series of reforms, including unblocking hundreds of websites and TV channels, it added.
