Ethiopia: Bomb blast in Bahir Dar

A music concert in Bahir Dar Meskel Square was canceled after a bomb incident on Saturday evening around 8:30 pm.

The concert was organized to promote Balageru beer, a newly launched beer of Dashen Beer SC, and attended by famous artists.

Dashen Beer S.C. is owned by Tiret, a parastatal of ANDM/EPRDF, and Duet Group, a British firm. The company is in a promotion campaign after its sales took a hit after last year political crisis.

Sources claimed the bomb was thrown from a passerby Bajaj taxi.

Some diaspora activists claimed on social media that the company was warned to cancel the concert. And the bomb was intended to disrupt the event.

Police fired over the head for several minutes after the incident, according to local sources. Police detained an unspecified number of people. No fatalities reported. There was no official statement regarding the incident.

It Is to be recalled a similar incident was reported in Bahir Dar ahead of Ethiopian Christmas festivities in January 4.

A hand bomb thrown to Grand Hotel, a 5 star hotel frequented by high profile guests, tourists and regional government officials, led to the cancellation of scheduled concert. Police detained the security guards of the hotel. No fatalities reported.

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Daniel Berhane

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