Two Dead in Ethiopia Grenade Attack

Ethiopian officials say two people have died and dozens more are injured, after an explosion at a huge political rally for the new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Abiy described it as an “unsuccessful attempt by forces who do not want to see Ethiopia united”, BBC reported.  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. Ethiopia’s health minister tweeted that two people had died. He said 44 people remained in hospital, five of them in a critical condition. Abiy only became prime minister after his predecessor Hailemariam Desalegn unexpectedly resigned in February. He is also the country’s first leader from the ethnic Oromo group, which has been at the center of nearly three years of anti-government protests that have left hundreds of people dead. Since taking office, he has begun passing a series of reforms, including unblocking hundreds of websites and TV channels. He has also said he is ready to implement in full a peace deal with Eritrea that was signed in 2000 after a two-year war.