At least 29 injured in bombing at rally for Ethiopian PM

Nearly 30 people were injured in a “bomb attack” at a rally in support of the party of Ethiopia’s prime minister Abiy Ahmed, police said.
The bombing occurred in the town of Ambo, west of the capital, Addis Ababa. Police said they have arrested six people who are suspected in the attack. Ahmed was not participating in the rally.
Ethiopia’s electoral board has scheduled parliamentary polls for 29 August. The formal campaign period will begin in May. The opposition doubts that the elections will be peaceful, as ethnic violence persists since Ahmed was appointed in 2018 following several years of anti-government protests.
“The bomb attack on a rally for Dr Abiy has injured 29 people, of whom 28 have been treated and sent home”, a police official said, adding that the attack was believed to be the work of the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), the breakaway armed wing of the opposition party Oromo Liberation Front. The attack comes two days after the assassination of a top security official, which was also blamed on the OLA.
Ethiopia has been experiencing ethnic violence since 2018, after Ahmed announced political reforms for which he later was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Ahmed has been praised for reforms, but the opposition accuses him of authoritarian tendencies, including locking up political opponents.