Escalation of clashes in Ethiopia due to the demolition of mosques: Clashes erupted after Friday prayers near the largest mosque in Addis Ababa between police and young worshipers angry at the demolition of mosques as part of an urban project.

Clashes escalated in Ethiopia over the demolition of mosques

Local sources said, “Riot police were deployed near the mosque, and security men from the Republican Guard, an elite unit responsible for protecting institutions and government figures, attended.

After the prayer, the worshipers began to leave the mosque quietly when young men began chanting, “God is great,” according to the same sources.

After that, gunfire was heard and people started running in panic, then the youths started throwing stones at the Ethiopian police, who responded by firing tear gas and bullets at them.

Clashes escalated in Ethiopia over the demolition of mosques

It was not possible to know whether the bullets were live, plastic, or empty, as the French Agency confirmed that no immediate injuries were detected.

A similar demonstration last week ended with the killing of two people after clashes in the vicinity of the Anwar Mosque, according to the police, who also announced that 56 people were injured and 114 arrested.

Sugar City project

Last year, the federal authorities and the Oromia region launched a controversial project called “Chigar City”, which involves merging six towns surrounding the capital into a wide western arc.

In this context, the authorities have been destroying for months a number of buildings, houses and mosques that they consider to be built illegally.

Opponents of the project condemn these operations, which they consider discriminatory and based, in their opinion, on ethnic criteria (against people who do not belong to the Oromo ethnicity) and religious (targeting mosques).

Ethiopia has a Christian majority, especially Orthodox, but Muslims make up almost a third of the country’s population.