By Jason McLure | Bloomberg
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission started a probe into a grenade attack on an opposition candidate’s home in a remote village in the north of the country, an investigator said.
The state-run body will release a report on the April 27 incident after about a week, investigator Mulugeta Netta said late yesterday by phone from the northern town of Axum.
No one was killed in the attack, said Ayale Beyene, a candidate for parliament for the Medrek opposition alliance, at his home in the nearby village of Wukro Oumaray.
Four members of the commission visited Ayale yesterday at his home in the country’s Tigray region, a hotbed of support for Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s ruling party.
The probe comes amid rising tension ahead of Ethiopia’s May 23 election. Medrek leaders claim they are the victims of a widespread campaign of intimidation and harassment by government officials, police, and militia loyal to Meles.
Ayale, 28, said he was awoken during the night by the sound of something clattering off his stone hut’s tin roof, followed by a “devastating noise.” Ayale pointed to pieces of chipped stone and a damaged tree as evidence of the blast. He said a second grenade was left unexploded outside his hut.
Shimeles Kemal, a spokesman for the Ethiopian government, said he was unaware of the incident when contacted on his mobile phone. Government and ruling party officials have in the past accused opposition leaders of fabricating human rights abuses so as to tarnish Ethiopia’s image.
At least 193 demonstrators were killed by security forces loyal to Meles in unrest following Ethiopia’s 2005 elections.
5 thoughts on “Bomb thrown at Ethiopia opposition candidate’s home in Axum”
Ayele Beyene was not A medrik candidet or Tekawami …He was an active TPLF memmber!!!!
That will be the answer!
Oh Dear:
This is for the third or more times that we read such an act of violence towards opponents from that nothern region of the country. In fact this ill equipped social behaviour that lead to the 30 years nonsence war in Eritrea and almost that many years in Tigray.
This is an indication of an innate innability of the people from the north ( Eritrea and Tigray ) to work together with others who are different in ideas.
They both have shown time and again purley, a philosophy of a donkey: ” If I am going to die, then let no grass to grow “. If we are going to loose then let all die and let no system to exist. They do not have a regard of a pinny size , to frienship of a long time, they do not have regard to a long standing history and they do not think and even care for the friendship to form after crises. That is just they are.
It is sad to see this extremely far behind social behavior again and again and in fact extremly suffocating to those who live in it and work to bring some change in the modality of their thinking.
Amazing!
In the previous elections, such events (killing of innocent civilians or candidates by throwing bomb) were mostly common in Addis Ababa. This time the government has focused on Tigray region. In the previous couple weeks about three candidates (our Tigraian brothers) have been killed by Meles regime.
The current situation of Meles tells me TWO important things:
1) We Ethiopians are more UNITED this time than ever before.
2) Meles is losing support from every corner of the country.
My friends, every success requires sacrifies. No matter how the night is long, the day will come! And let us not forget Meles might be able to kill our brothers and sisters but he will never be able to kill our unity.
So let us challenge the challenges and move on United.
We will defeat them!!!
The real Heroes are those like Ayale Beyene fighting the enemy face to face in the middle of the fire coming from all direction.
The rest.., let them go to hell. They are there with condition measuring their activity with money/material gain for their own benefit.
Talk, talk, walking around, thinking while sleeping, always staring something but never finishing it and the likes are their ways that allowed TPLF to damage Ethiopia.
However, there are many young and determine Ethiopians like Ayale and only these kind will take care and save Ethiopia. Not those and these.… All of them are mentally sick and cancers to the nation. Let them go to hell.
I wonder if I know whether these guys are rulers of the country or group of mafias? I think EPRDF/TPLF still consider itself as gorilla fighter rather than a government body