By TesfaNews,
A grenade attack on Friday during evening prayers at the biggest mosque in the Ethiopian capital injures at least 24 people and five in critical condition.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, and officials said they were trying to determine who was behind it.
Authorities are not sure who is responsible for the attack at the Grand Anwar Mosque but investigations are underway, said Information Minister Getachew Reda.
Reda told reporters that the attack may have been aimed at causing confusion and panic, following violent protests against the government in Oromia state in recent days.
The Oromo people, the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, have been holding protests against the government’s plans to “better integrate development across the wider region”.
Several rebel groups are fighting low-levels insurgencies in Ethiopia.
Muslims have been protesting since 2011, accusing the government of interfering in their religion.
A court in Ethiopia sentenced 18 Muslims, including clerics and a journalist, to up to 22 years in prison under controversial anti-terrorism legislation in August.
The Oromo people’s protest that have already spread to more than 50 towns across the country so far claimed the lives of more than 10 protesters.
Ethiopian opposition figures and activists warn Ethiopia through the ethnic based policies of the current minority government is heading towards a demographic, social and political calamity.
* Aljazeera , BBC News and VOA News contributed to the above story.
