Addis Ababa, May 2 (AFP/APP): Ethiopian police using tear gas briefly clashed with young Muslims in Addis Ababa on Monday during prayers to mark the end of Ramadan, AFP reporters saw.
The incident occurred outside the international stadium in the heart of the capital, where prayers were scheduled to celebrate the Eid al-Fitr holiday.
Unable to gain access because the stadium was full, some worshippers began to pray outside, in Meskel Square.
A member of the Addis Ababa High Council of Islamic Affairs told AFP details about what happened next were sketchy.
Volunteers at the scene, he said, reported that a policeman accidentally fired a round of tear gas at the crowd, triggering a confrontation and “the situation became uncontrollable”.
His organisation later issued a statement saying “the unrest was not a problem that happened between Christians and Muslims.”
Nor, the Council said, was the unrest “connected to the government, as some entities are trying to do.”
Addis police issued a statement saying “a riot” had been caused by a “few individuals” and led to property damage, but order had now been restored.
“Police are calling on the community to remain calm,” it said, adding that it would inform the public later about the cause of the disturbance.
AFP journalists said some demonstrators hurled stones at police, shouting “Justice for Gondar” and “Don’t burn our mosques, don’t kill our people.”
Stone-throwing demonstrators also smashed windows at a national museum on Meskel Square before calm was restored, AFP journalists said.
At least 20 people were killed last Tuesday in Gondar, a town in the northwestern region of Amhara, when Muslims were attacked at a funeral by heavily-armed “extremist Christians”, an Islamic group there says.
The region’s security authorities said on Friday that 373 people had been arrested.
Follow the PNI Facebook page for the latest news and updates.
