Ethiopian gov't to take legal measures against subversive forces

Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-18 23:34:29|Editor: Mu Xuequan
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ADDIS ABABA, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopia National Security Council (NSC), a governmental body tasked with making major national security decisions warned on Tuesday it will take legal measures against subversive forces.

In a press statement, NSC said the government is ready to take appropriate legal measures to secure the rule of law against threats by subversive forces, who want to use the democratic opening in the country, as an excuse to conduct destructive acts. The council didn't specify who these subversive forces are.

"Recent conflict in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa and the neighboring Burayu town, was not a result of minor differences between people, rather they were meticulously planned by some groups whose destructive plan was foiled in other parts of the country." said the statement.

The NSC statement further said the Ethiopian government is ready to take necessary measures to safeguard the peace and security of its people.

The statement followed deadly ethnic violence in the weekend in Burayu town between local ethnic Oromos and other ethnicities that left at least 23 people dead and 886 others displaced.

The weekend attack followed recent clashes in the capital Addis Ababa among local residents and youth from surrounding ethnic Oromo areas who flocked to the city to celebrate the return of the exiled rebel leader of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) group that has been fighting insurgency for self-determination of Ethiopia's largest ethnic group, the Oromos.

Addis Ababa is an ethnically-mixed city of around four million people, but is situated within the larger Oromo-dominated Oromia regional state.

Video footage and digital pictures showing dead bodies and looted properties in Burayu town started appearing on Sunday morning, prompting deadly street protests in Addis Ababa on Monday.

Speaking to state media outlets, Zeynu Jemal, Commissioner of Ethiopia Federal Police Commission, said five people were shot dead, during confrontations with security forces in Addis Ababa.

Jemal said there were attempts to loot property under the guise of demonstrations and that some "dangerous vagrants" also tried to snatch weapons from police officers.

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