ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — A grenade attack on a rally for Ethiopia’s new prime minister injured several people on Saturday, setting off a stampede as panicked people rushed to safety, according to officials and the state broadcaster.
Witnesses said the attacker had been disguised in a police uniform, striking shortly after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had given a speech at Meskel Square in the capital, Addis Ababa, at what is believed to have been the largest public rally ever held in support of a leader in Ethiopia.
The explosion went off immediately after he had finished giving a speech that supporters described as “unifying and hopeful.” People were hugging each other.
The prime minister’s chief of staff, Fitsum Arega, said on his Twitter account, “Some whose heart is filled with hate attempted a grenade attack.” He said that Mr. Abiy was “safe.”
Girma Kassa, the deputy dead of the Addis Ababa Police Commission, said that about 100 people had been wounded and a police truck had been destroyed. A large number of people were also unaccounted for after the stampede.
Officials gave conflicting reports about the toll. Witnesses and the state news media said that several people had been killed. People who were close to the explosion placed the number of dead at eight or more. One man said he saw body parts scattered after the explosion.
The prime minister said in a grim address to the nation afterward that people had been killed and injured in a “well-orchestrated attack.”
“The causalities are martyrs of love, unity and peace,” he added, urging Ethiopians not to be discouraged and to work toward reforming the country for a better future. “To kill is to be defeated,” he sad.
Later, Mr. Abiy said dozens had been injured but there no reports of deaths.
Officials did not identify any suspects in the attack. The police in the East African nation said they were investigating.
Officials said the attack had been sitting on the stage among other officials, including the house speaker, Muferihat Kamil, when the explosion went off.
Seyoum Teshome, the organizer of the rally, said in an interview: “The target was the prime minister because the suspect was aiming to throw the grenade by the right side of the stage, where he was sitting.”
The attacker was held back by the crowd, he said, adding that “several who were around there” were killed. Witness said a suspect was beaten by the crowd and the police had taken the person to a hospital, but the authorities reported no official arrests.
In a cowboy hat and T-shirt, Mr. Abiy, 41, had been addressing a crowd of supporters wearing clothes displaying his image and carrying signs saying, “One Love, One Ethiopia.”
He told the tens of thousands at the rally that change was coming after years of antigovernment tensions, adding that there was no turning back.
“For the past 100 years, hate has done a great deal of damage to us,” he said, stressing the need for further reforms.
Mr. Abiy — a former soldier, intelligence officer, minister of science and technology, and vice president of the Oromia region — took office in April, pulling Ethiopia back from the brink of a political implosion.
The country, rocked in recent years by violent protests, had been in a state of emergency since the previous prime minister’s resignation in February.
Mr. Abiy, one of the youngest leaders in Africa, quickly announced the release of tens of thousands of prisoners and the opening of state-owned companies to private investment.
He also surprised many in Ethiopia, a critical player in the regional fight against terrorism, by taking a major step this month toward calming tensions with Eritrea over their disputed border. He said his government would fully accept the terms of a peace agreement signed in 2000.
Some Ethiopians near the border with Eritrea have protested the proposed deal.
The Eritrean ambassador, Estifanos Afeworki, denounced the attack at the rally, writing on Twitter, “#Eritrea strongly condemns the attempt to incite violence, in today’s AA demonstration for peace, 1st of its kind in history of #Ethiopia.”
The United States Embassy in Addis Ababa also tweeted, “ Violence has no place as Ethiopia pursues meaningful political and economic reforms.”
Source : Nytimes
