By Aaron MaashoADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopian authorities have dropped charges against a senior opposition leader and hundreds of others who had been jailed for involvement in unrest that gripped the country in 2015 and 2016, the country's attorney general said on Monday. Several dissident politicians have since been jailed having been charged with involvement in terrorism and collusion with the secessionist Oromo Liberation Front, which the government has branded a terrorist group. Facing mounting unrest, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn announced earlier this month that jailed politicians would be released and those facing trial would have their cases dismissed in a bid to foster reconciliation. Nearly 700 people died in one bout of unrest during months of protests in 2015 and 2016, according to a parliament-mandated investigation. Dozens of people were killed in several bouts of violence between ethnic Oromos and Somalis in the Oromiya region last year.

Source: Ethiopian News January 15, 2018 14:15 UTC