MEKELE, May 20(Reuters) - A bomb exploded on a bus in Ethiopia near the Eritrean border wounding 13 people, police said on Thursday, three days before elections the government says bitter rival Eritrea may try to spoil.
Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a war over their border from 1998-2000 in which more than 80,000 people died. Relations have been tense since and the border remains an issue.
“A bomb exploded on a bus with 25 passengers onboard when it arrived in Sheraro town from Shire town at 9 p.m. (1800 GMT) on Wednesday night,” Mustafa Seid, chief of police in Sheraro, told Reuters.
“Thirteen of the passengers are in hospital, six with serious injuries,” he said.
Sheraro is about 60 km (38 miles) from Ethiopia’s border with Eritrea.
Ethiopia’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday that Eritrea had been planning a number of “terrorist” plots to undermine the May 23 national elections.
Ethiopia’s parliamentary and regional elections are the first since a disputed 2005 poll ended with street riots in which 193 protesters and seven policemen died.
Top opposition politicians were also jailed after the ruling party said they had provoked the violence to force an unconstitutional change of government.
Mustafa said the bomb was concealed in a bag carried onto the bus by one of the passengers. He said the man was not hurt and was being questioned, but that it was too early to say what the motive for the attack may have been.
An explosion at a cafe in the same region last month killed five people and was blamed by Ethiopian government officials on Eritrea.
The Eritrean government had no comment on that accusation.
May 20th, 2010 at 8:04 am
A desperate action by TPLF thugs. There is no way of diverting our attention by killing and throwin bomb on innocent civilians.
Soon or later the stuipid game by TpLF will end
May 20th, 2010 at 8:41 am
የተለመደው የወያኔ እኩይ ስራ ነው !
May 20th, 2010 at 8:43 am
Wow it used to be the case in other parts of ethiopia but now woyane started to bomb tigray. i do not know where these barbaric acts would lead them.
May 20th, 2010 at 9:44 am
This is another dirty game that is carried out by TPLF terrorist group to divert the attention of ethipians particularly Tigrans. As we all know that Arena and Mederk are getting the biggest attention throughout Ethiopia especially in tigray where TPLF claimed to have its biggest support. As a result tplf is now working day and night to destruct and intimidate the Tigrans from supporting Arena, this is a typical dirty game that tplf played in Addis Ababa in 2005 when Kinijit was getting the highest support. TPLF exploded many bombs in buses, taxies , restaurants and other public areas to create confusion however Ethiopians didn’t give a single place for tplf dirty drama and have given even more support to kinijit. And now tplf is playing another worst drama in tigray where tigreans should even get ready to support Arena and Mederk now better than any other time.
RIP for the lost Ethiopians and my deepest sympathy goes to the family members. The struggle continues!
Go Areana Go
Go Mederk Go
May 20th, 2010 at 9:46 am
Oh, My GOD! I heard that at least 6 already dead. But I don’t think it is the work of EPRDF. If so, I will no longer support these guys. Oh, my people rest in peace!
May 20th, 2010 at 10:16 am
There is no doubt as to who did it. Just TPLF!! TPLF is just in position to do whatever it takes to stay in power. It does not matter where the opponents are from. Take it from me the tplf is simply a group of two legged creatures who loves killing people to death!!
May 20th, 2010 at 11:11 am
they excuse everything on shabia. so funny. ayy woyane!
May 20th, 2010 at 11:35 am
*ምርጫው ተጠናቆ ኢህአዴግ ካሸነፈ በኅላ: ወዲያውኑ ሻዕቢያ ላይ ጦርነት ማወጅ ያስፈልጋል:: በዛውም ተባባሪዎችን ጠራርጎ እስር ቤት ማጎር’ አይ ወያኔ! ካለፈው ምርጫ እንደተማርነው ከሆነ የተቀነባበረ የፕሮፓጋንዳ ስራ ነው:: የሚያሳዝነው ለዚህ ተብሎ እንደ በግ መስዋዕት የሚሆኑት ምስኪን ኢትዮጵያውያን ናቸው::
መጀመሪያ የ70,000 ኢትዮጵያውያን ደም በከንቱ ፈሶ እንዲቀር ያደረጉ ባለስልጣኖች በሙሉ ተጠያቂ ማድረግ ያስፈልጋል:: ከዚያ በኅላ ነው የወያኔ መንግስት ስለ ሻዕቢያ ሊያወራልን የሚችለው::
May 20th, 2010 at 11:46 am
woyannes plant as always since their gorilla times as aljazera has asked him about the 6 Ethiopians killed by direct order of this monster he says
that is very few as election day nears ,he seems to be robot i afraid that
humanlife for this chimp is not worth of a rabbit but for that matter Ethiopians need 1000 zenawi dies before one Ethiopian and they are our martyr dying for the love of their beloved country unlike the shifta in the minilik palace
May 20th, 2010 at 12:38 pm
TPLF will not stop playing this dirty game here. From its 1st birthday, adapted this type of dirty games. For TPLF life is the cheapst thing to distroy to stay on the power. There will be more to come. Let us united and do better than what we are doing. let us give the right to live 1st.
For those we have lost, rest in peace.
May 20th, 2010 at 1:10 pm
nunu, if not woyane, who else? whether you believe it or not this is what woyane has been doing and will keep doing to stay on power. Look like you have been waiting these killings to knock on your door, what about the other poor Ethiopians? Why do you care!!!
May 20th, 2010 at 1:31 pm
ህዝብን ለማስፈራራት የሚደረግ የወያነ አሻጥር በመሆኑ ሕዝብ የተነሳበትን ከግብ ለማድረስ ወደኋላ አይቀለበስም ምርቻውን ለማሸነፍ ሕዝብን በፍላጎት መሳብ እንጂ በሽብር የራስን ጎድጓድ መማስ እንድሆነ የገዥው አምባገነን ሥራዓት ሊገነዘበው አልቻለም:: በአደጋው ለተጎዱት ውገኖቻችን የቆሰሉት መልካም ጤንነት ለሞቱት ቤተሰብ መጽናናት እንዲያድላቸው እመኛለሁ
የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ የድል ባለቤት ነው ጨቋኝ ገዥዎች የውድማሉ ሰላም መረጋጋት የዘወትር ተስፋ በመሆኑ ለነሳነቱ የሚታገል አይታክትም
May 20th, 2010 at 1:33 pm
ህዝብን ለማስፈራራት የሚደረግ የወያነ አሻጥር በመሆኑ ሕዝብ የተነሳበትን ከግብ ለማድረስ ወደኋላ አይቀለበስም ምርጫውን ለማሸነፍ ሕዝብን በፍላጎት መሳብ እንጂ በሽብር የራስን ጎድጓድ መማስ እንድሆነ የገዥው አምባገነን ሥራዓት ሊገነዘበው አልቻለም:: በአደጋው ለተጎዱት ውገኖቻችን የቆሰሉት መልካም ጤንነት ለሞቱት ቤተሰብ መጽናናት እንዲያድላቸው እመኛለሁ
የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ የድል ባለቤት ነው ጨቋኝ ገዥዎች ይውድማሉ ሰላም መረጋጋት የዘወትር ተስፋ በመሆኑ ለነጻነቱ የሚታገል አይታክትም
May 20th, 2010 at 1:42 pm
with no uncertain terms this criminal act was carried out as usual by woyane perptraters to scare the tigryan falks from casting their vote to opposition forces.This brutal action indicates how woyane is merciless even for kith and kin.
May 20th, 2010 at 3:05 pm
This is absolutely the evil deeds of tplf!
May 20th, 2010 at 4:48 pm
The election will go ahead,however, those who are responsible will get a swift justice for thier action.
May 20th, 2010 at 7:33 pm
This crime has all the Weyane finger prints all over it. Poor Tigreans they thought Meles and TPLF were their saviours. It is sad!
May 20th, 2010 at 10:39 pm
there is no evidence that the blast happened and we don’t need to believer to what woyane says, as they said the situation occured in the remote region of tigray by the border of eritrea. no foreign media or independant pressed allowed to go there and there is no proof to what they say. woyane is using this terror propaganda to intimidate eritrea and to get attention from the international community. the truth is western knows what this tyrany government is doing.
May 22nd, 2010 at 6:27 am
አሉላ አባ ደደቢት! በትግራይ የሚገኙት የጀግናው ራስ አሉላ አባነጋን የሃገር አንድነት መንፈስና የጀግንነት ውሎ ከልብ የገባቸው የትግራይ ተወላጆች ከሌሎች ኢትዮጵያውያን ጋር ያላቸውን የአንድነት የነጻነትና መብት ትግል በጸና መንፈስ ወያኔዎችን በገቡበት ገብቶ አሳዶ የመቅጣት ትግሉ አቀጣጥለዋልና በሁሉም ክፍላተሃገር ለነጻነታችን ስንል ፋሽስት ወያኔን በማርበድበድ በጽናት እንታገላለን::
ኢትዮጵያንና ልጆቿን ማዳን ሃገራዊ መብታችን ነው::
ትግሉ ይቀጥላል::
አሸባሪው ፋሽስት ወያኔ በመጣበት ብረት ዋጋውን ያገኛል::
ኢትዮጵያ ለዘለአለም ትኑር!!!