The army deployed in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, to contain the unrest that claimed the lives of more than 80 people, while Prime Minister Abi Ahmed accused unnamed foreign powers of trying to destabilize his country to prevent it from completing the Renaissance Dam project.
Reuters news agency quoted witnesses as saying that the army deployed in some areas of the capital yesterday, Wednesday, and that gangs armed with machetes and sticks roamed some neighborhoods, and the sound of gunfire echoed across several residential areas.
The witnesses described a confrontation between youths of the Oromo nationality and others of other nationalities, which included skirmishes between both sides and the police.
The protests erupted after the assassination of the famous singer and political activist Hasalo Hondisa of the Oromo ethnic group on Monday evening. Immediately after his death, three eruptions of violence erupted in Addis Ababa, killing one policeman.
Later, the unrest expanded to include other areas in Oromia region, and the Regional Police Commissioner confirmed to the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation that 81 people, including 3 security personnel, were killed in the protests that took place in the region on Tuesday and Wednesday.
A spokesman for Oromia Police said that 50 people were killed on Tuesday in the region, while a representative of the opposition "Oromo Federal Congress" party said that 9 others were killed on Wednesday and their bodies were taken to the main Ombo Hospital in Oromia.
The authorities arrested Bekele Gerba, leader of the opposition in the Oromia region and Johar Mohamed, political and media activist, which portends further tension.
Hundisa was a prominent activist in the protests that paved the way for the current prime minister to take over at the head of a coalition of parties.
Hundisa's funeral
Hondisa's funeral is scheduled for Thursday in his hometown of the town of Ambo, and many fear that the funeral will fuel unrest.
It is noteworthy that Oromo is the largest nationality in Ethiopia with a population of close to 100 million, and has long complained of its marginalization in politics and governance until Abi Ahmed came to the premiership two years ago, ending decades of the Tigray nationalism's control of the reins of power.
Hondissa's assassination took place amid internal tension after the postponement of the general elections due to the outbreak of the Corona virus, and also in light of a confrontation between Ethiopia and Egypt over the Renaissance Dam that amounted to the exchange of threats between the two countries.
Addis Ababa confirmed a few days ago that it would start after two weeks to fill the dam reservoir despite the strong opposition from Egypt, which transmitted the file to the Security Council, in a move that Ethiopia said it would complicate the issue.
Accused inside and outside
For his part, the Ethiopian Prime Minister condemned the assassination, which his government described as the mastermind, and accused foreign and local authorities of seeking to destabilize his country and prevent it from completing the Renaissance Dam.
"At a time when the UN Security Council was meeting to discuss the Renaissance Dam crisis, the assassination took place. It is a crime in which external forces participated and carried out by a local force, and the goal is to prevent us from completing the Renaissance Dam. What the enemies want and what they are planning will not," Abi Ahmed said in a televised speech. Checks".
He described the tragedy, and vowed to bring Hondissa's killers to justice, and the police had earlier said they had arrested a number of those suspected of the murder.
In the same context, a spokesman for the Oromia region, from which the artist, activist, and prime minister come from, said that Egypt was involved in the turmoil that erupted after Hondissa's death.
Egyptian accusations of Ethiopia
On the other hand, the Egyptian Minister of Irrigation Mohamed Abdel-Atti said in statements regarding the Renaissance Dam file that Ethiopia is not transparent in this regard, and that negotiations with it were taking place on another dam entirely.
He added that discussions had taken place between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia about building a dam on the Blue Nile, but Ethiopia had established another completely dam.
The Egyptian minister reaffirmed that his country does not reject the development of Ethiopia, and that it had previously agreed to construct the "Tapana" dam because it does not harm Egypt and Sudan, he said.