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AFP: Clashes Erupt between Muslims, Ethiopian Police in Addis Ababa over Demolition of Mosques


Fri 02 Jun 2023 | 10:59 PM
Ahmed Moamar

Clashes erupted after Friday prayers near the largest mosque in Addis Ababa between the police and young worshipers angry at the demolition of mosques as part of an urban project.

The "Agence France Presse (AFP)," said that riot police were deployed near the mosque, as well as security men from the Republican Guard, an elite unit responsible for protecting institutions and government figures.

After the prayer, the worshipers began to leave the mosque quietly when young men began chanting, "God is great," according to AFP.

After that, gunfire was heard and people started running in panic, then the youths started throwing stones at the police, who responded by firing tear gas and bullets at them.

A similar demonstration last week ended with the killing of two people after clashes in the vicinity of the Anwar Mosque, according to the police, who also announced that 56 people were injured and 114 arrested.

In this context, the authorities have been destroying for months several buildings, houses, and mosques that they consider to be built illegally.

Opponents of the project condemn these operations, which they consider discriminatory and based, in their opinion, on ethnic criteria (against people who do not belong to the Oromo ethnicity) and religious (targeting mosques).