Ethiopia: 1,000+ involved in street violence released

By Addis Getachew

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AA) - The Addis Ababa Police Commission on Thursday said they released a total of 1,174 residents of the Ethiopian capital, who were detained at the Tolai military camp for over a month.

Between Sept. 12 and 18, youths of Addis Ababa clashed with residents of the city’s peripheries, who flocked into the city center in masses to welcome Dawud Ibssa, the exiled leader of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF).

Ibssa had accepted the government’s call to participate in a "peaceful" political contest.

According to the police, 26 people were killed in the clashes that largely involved disagreement in putting up flags and emblems and the ways in which they were displayed -- including painting the curbs and streets with OLF flags.

The detainees received “training on how to keep abreast of violence”, according to the commission’s public relations commander Fasika Fanta.

Despite deep reforms launched by the government in April this year, ethnic clashes have been rampant, leading to the displacement of millions.