Several people were killed in a stampede
near the Ethiopian capital on Sunday after
police fired tear gas at protesters during a
religious festival, according to an AFP
photographer at the scene.
Several thousand people had gathered at a
sacred lake in the town of Bishoftu to take
part in the Irreecha ceremony, in which the
Oromo community marks the end of the
rainy season.
Some participants crossed their wrists
above their heads, a gesture that has
become a symbol of Oromo anti-
government protests.
The event quickly degenerated, with
protesters throwing stones and bottles and
security forces responding with baton
charges and then tear gas grenades.
The tear gas caused panic and at least 50
people fell on top of each other into a
ditch.
The AFP photographer saw between 15
and 20 unmoving bodies some of which
were clearly dead.
Police demanded that the photographer
leave the scene, where rubber bullets were
strewn on the ground.
“This government are dictators, there is no
equality or freedom of speech. There is
only TPLF. That’s why we must protest
today,” said Mohamed, referring to the
Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front.
In 1991 the TPLF, then a rebel group,
overthrew Mengistu Haile Mariam’s
dictatorship and now, as a political party
stands accused of monopolising power.
Every year millions of people in the Oromo
region mark the Irreecha festival on the
shores of Lake Harsadi, which they
consider sacred.
Ethiopia is facing its biggest anti-
government protests in a decade. They
started in the central and western Oromo
region in 2015 and spread in recent months
to the northern Amhara region.
Together, Oromos and Amharas make up
60 percent of the population and have
become increasingly vocal in rejecting
what they see as the disproportionate
power wielded by the northern Tigrean
minority in government and the security
forces.
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