Wednesday April 27, 2022
Ethiopian authorities have arrested four suspects in
connection with the Sunday bomb attack at a hotel in the historic city of
Harar.
In a statement on Tuesday, Harari Regional State Police Commissioner,
Nesri Zekerya, said that the four suspects are being investigated.
“Police are monitoring the situation closely,” the statement
added.
Eight people were injured after a bomb exploded inside the
hotel in the capital of Harari Regional State, regional Police Commissioner
said.
The explosion happened on Sunday night as Ethiopians across
the country were celebrating the Easter holiday.
Four of the eight victims were treated for minor injuries
and returned home immediately, while the rest remain in critical condition and
are receiving treatment at nearby hospitals.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, the
second in the region in less than two weeks.
Sunday night's attack comes one day after Ethiopian
authorities announced the arrest of 34 suspected members of Al-Shabaab terror
group.
Shabaab suspects
In a statement issued on Saturday, the Ethiopian National
Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) said the Shabaab suspects were
planning to carry out terror attacks in various parts of the country during the
Easter holiday.
During the Ramadhan fasting and as Ethiopia prepared to
celebrate the Easter holiday, The EastAfrican learnt that there was a terror
threat and security personnel were on high alert in the capital Addis Ababa and
other major cities.
“The suspects were secretly conspiring and preparing to
conduct terror attacks in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, Oromia and Somali
regional states at the time of their arrest,” the NISS statement said.
“Al-Shabaab had chosen the ongoing Islamic Ramadhan and
Orthodox Christian Easter fasting seasons to destabilise Ethiopia through
terror attacks, but the plot has been foiled by the careful monitoring and
operations of the security and intelligence bodies,” the NISS statement added.
Of the 34 suspected Shabaab members, 10 were arrested in
Oromia regional state while 24 were detained in Ethiopia's Somali region.
The suspects were also found in possession of assault
rifles, machine guns, mortars, ammunition and other weapons, as well as bank
account statements and other documents.
The NISS added that Mohammed Guhad Mursal and Sheikh
Mohammed Hussein Osman were suspected of coordinating Al-Shabaab cell
recruitment and logistics in Ethiopia, and also training recruits on home-made
bombs.
One of the suspects recruited by the group opened a number
of bank accounts in the name of Mikael Abdurahman Ibrahim and had been
receiving substantial amounts of money from Al-Shabaab cells based in Kenya,
Minnesota and Somaliland, NISS said.
Ethiopian authorities were pursuing those involved in the
planned attack.
Military intelligence
Last week, military intelligence agencies in eastern Africa
met in Addis Ababa and consulted on regional security, terrorism and other issues
of common concern.
The forum was attended by officials from Ethiopia, Djibouti,
Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda.
The meeting stressed the need for continued vigilance and
concerted efforts among the regional countries to strengthen cooperation in
combating security challenges, while also taking stock of the implementation
status of the conclusions and recommendations of their previous meeting.