Hundreds of people chanting anti-government slogans marched in the central Ethiopian town of Bishoftu on Sunday at a religious festival where a stampede triggered by a police move to quell protests killed dozens of people last year. The incident during the annual Irreecha festival in Bishoftu, which lies 40 km (25 miles) south of the capital Addis Ababa, marked the bloodiest period in unrest that plagued the Horn of Africa country for months in 2015 and 2016. Authorities at the time said 55 had died in the stampede, while dissidents put the toll at around 150. EPRDFAlthough the lakeside event ended without any violence, anti-government slogans rang out soon after the ceremony began. The unrest was provoked by a development scheme for the capital Addis Ababa and turned into broader anti-government demonstrations over politics and human rights abuses.

Source: Ethiopian News October 02, 2017 07:41 UTC