Addis Abeba, January 31/2019 – Authorities have imposed a curfew of 10:00 PM local time and a ban on public gathering in the Somali regional state in eastern Ethiopia as of yesterday. The measures, which Abdullahi Mahamed Abdi, Somali region deputy security chief, said would last for three days, followed the death of two people on January 29 after a group of people provoked clashes at a religions festival some 35 km off Jigjiga, the region’s capital. A similar incident in Dire Dawa last week led to a week long violent protests which resulted in the death of one and destruction of properties. He declined to give specifics on when the curfew and the ban on public gathering would come to an end. On January 25, the Attorney General’s office revealed that the August violence resulted in the killings of 58 people while 266 were injured.

Source: Ethiopian News January 31, 2019 10:46 UTC