Demonstrators flooded the Ethiopian
capital Addis Ababa on Monday, blocking roads and shutting businesses in
an explosion of anger following the killing of 23 people on the city's
outskirts over the weekend.
The
unrest in Ethiopia's largest city was the latest instance of ethnic
violence to challenge Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who has undertaken
aggressive reforms including reigning in the security forces since his
April inauguration.
Police appeared
spread thin as groups of mostly young men waving protest flags and tree
branches jogged through neighbourhoods across the city to denounce the
weekend killings in the Burayu suburb. Ethiopia's police chief, Zeynu
Jemal, said officers had shot dead five people on Monday, describing
them as "dangerous vagrants" who attempted to loot property and steal
police weapons. "I came for justice because our brothers and sisters are
being slaughtered and thrown into the woods," said Bizuayehu Biyargegne
Getahun, one of a group of more than a hundred protesters gathered in
the central Meskel Square.
"They're raping our sisters and mothers," she claimed.
Zewdu Tinae called on the government to prevent the violence that he said had killed his brother and neighbour.
"The government is saying let's come together, but we're being driven apart because there's no rule of law," he said.
State-owned
Ethiopia News Agency (ENA) said the violence in Burayu was carried out
by an organised mob, who looted, killed and forced 886 people out of
their homes, citing Alemayehu Ejigu, police commissioner for the Oromia
region that surrounds Addis Ababa and includes Burayu.
Local media reported up to 200 arrests.
On
Twitter, Abiy's chief of staff, Fitsum Arega, said the leader "strongly
condemns the killings and acts of violence against innocent citizens.
"These
cowardly attacks represent a grave concern to the unity and solidarity
of our people and will be met with an appropriate response," he said.
But
that wasn't enough for many protesters, who blamed the Oromos,
Ethiopia's largest ethnicity which inhabits Oromia, for targeting
minorities.
"People of Gamo and people of other
ethnicities are being attacked," said Mahmud Emersa, referring to a
minority ethnic group from southern Ethiopia.
He claimed the violence has gone on for the past four years.
The roads to Burayu were blocked by protesters on Monday, who threatened journalists covering the demonstrations.
Businesses
closed their doors and avenues across the city were jammed with
commuters waiting for public transportation that had greatly reduced due
to the unrest.
There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries in the demonstrations.
The
weekend killings followed the triumphant return from exile of leaders
of the once-outlawed Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) rebel group who in
August agreed with Ethiopia's government to lay down arms.
But
in the days before their return, clashes broke out between young men
from the ethnically-mixed city of around four million people and Oromos
who came into Addis Ababa to welcome the OLF.
Oromo-led
anti-government protests that began in late 2015 helped bring about the
resignation of Ethiopia's former leader and Abiy's subsequent rise to
power.
An Oromo himself, Abiy has
shuffled the leadership of Ethiopia's police, military and intelligence
arms, which have long been accused of abusing human rights.
But
while he's encouraged the people of Africa's second most-populous
country to set aside their differences, bloody ethnic conflicts have
rocked his administration.
The
most serious began shortly after his inauguration, when clashes between
Oromos and members of the Gedeo ethnic displaced nearly one million
people.