afrol News, 29 May - No arrests have yet been made in connection with the bomb explosion that killed three people and seriously maimed five others at a hotel in the town of Ngele in the eastern Somali region of Ethiopia, yesterday.

Police have since mounted extensive investigations to hunt down, as well as bring to book perpetrators of the gory occurrence, but their efforts have as yet not yielded any fruits.

A Somali radio station reported that a Somali Islamic militia group had claimed responsibility of the gory incident, though this still remains to be confirmed. The explosion occurred as Ethiopians all over the country were commemorating the 17th anniversary of the ousting of the former military Derg regime.

The Ethiopian government still could not shed any light as to what transpired. On the other hand, a Somali radio station based in the Somali capital Mogadishu, said residents of Ngele heard the deadly explosion from where an official commemoration was held. The station read a statement made by a Somali Ismalic group that claimed responsibility of the attack saying it was aimed at Ethiopians whom it called the enemy of Islam.

The victims were reported as innocent non-military personnel, who were also not government officials. A similar incident happened about a week ago in a commercial mini-bus in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, where three passengers were killed and seven others seriously injured. The mini-bus was bomb-blasted en-route to the Meskel Square, around the Hilton Hotel, near the Foreign Affairs Ministry, on the way the 4 Killo area.

Police who have since mounted large-scale investigations into the incident confirmed that two of the dead victims were women. No arrest has been effectuated and no group claimed responsibility for the act which police linked to "terrorist attack".

The blast was preceded by the ruling party's overwhelming victory in the local and by-elections at the weekend. It also came a day before Ethiopian Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, was due to address parliament. Police report that investigations into both occurrences were underway, with the hope of establishing their source soon.

The Derg - or Dergue - was a communist junta that came into power in Ethiopia following the ousting of Haile Selassie I. The regime ruled the country under a committee of military officers who came to power after the widespread mutiny in the Ethiopian armed forces in 1974.

Between 1975 and 1977, the Derg executed and imprisoned tens of thousands of its opponents without trial. It's last leader Mengistu Haile Mariam who was ousted in 1991, was sentenced to death on Monday, while his 18 cabinet ministers all received life sentences.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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