Five killed in an explosion in Tigray (Northern Ethiopia)

(SPA)

At least five people were killed and 20 wounded on Saturday following an explosion at a cafe in the town of Adi-Daero in Tigray region (northern Ethiopia).

The Ethiopian government blamed the rebels in neighboring Eritrea within minutes of the blast. The rebels have not yet responded to these allegations made by the Ethiopian government.


"This is an attack by the Eritrean Government to deliberately disrupt the upcoming elections" said Michael Abraha, governor of Tigray.

The Tigray regional president, Tsegay Berhe, said several Eritrean agents infiltrated the country and are responsible for the attack. "The Ethiopian elections will not be affected despite Eritrean attempts to do so," he said.

Some opposition figures claim that the government did the blast and use that as a pretext to clamp down on strong challenge put by their officials in the home region of the ruling party.

"Even they themselves don't think it is believable to blame it on the Eritrean government leave alone the people of this country. This shows how disparate the government is at this point." said an opposition contender who wants to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal from the government.

The rebel group TPDM (Tigray People’s Democratic Movement) based in Eritrea has grown stronger in recent years since it was founded nine years a go.

Accusations by the opposition of harassment and murder have led to escalating tensions in Ethiopia between the long-entrenched government and the opposition.