Ethiopia police links deadly grenade attacks to 'anti-peace forces'

A grenade attack in Ethiopia’s northern city of Gondar on Tuesday night killed one person and wounded about a dozen others.

The police confirmed that the hand grenade was tossed into a recreational area in the Entasol hotel resulting in the casualties. Even though there is a hunt for the perpetrators, the police chief in the region says it could be a new strategy by anti-peace forces.

The state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate quotes Commander Assefa Ashebe as saying, ‘‘The attack might be a new tactic started by anti-peace forces as the strategy they had been pursuing in the past failed.’‘

The Gondar attack is the second such after an earlier one that hit the city of Bahir Dar a week ago. The country is currently under a six-month state of emergency meant to quell spreading anti-government protests largely in two regions of Amhara and Oromia.

The Prime Minister, Hailemarian Desalegn earlier this week said the country had to consolidate gains made from the current peace before considering the lifting of the state of emergency.

“As far as the date of lifting the state of emergency is concerned, it should be seen in the perspective that we have to consolidate the gains that we have made so far,” the Prime Minister told a news conference.

Human rights groups have estimated the death toll of clashes between protesters and security agencies as exceeding 500. The government has also made mass arrests for people flouting curfew rules, some have been trained and released whiles others await prosecution.