Several people were injured, an official said. The attack came after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had addressed the rally. He was not hurt.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — A grenade attack on a rally for Ethiopia’s new prime minister injured several people on Saturday, according to officials and the state broadcaster.
The blast occurred shortly after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had given a speech at Meskel Square in the capital, Addis Ababa, and was waving to the crowd on his way out.
The prime minister’s chief of staff, Fitsum Arega, said on his Twitter account, “Some whose heart is filled with hate attempted a grenade attack.” He said that Mr. Abiy was “safe.”
The toll was unclear, with witnesses, the state news media and the prime minister saying that several people were killed. The Addis Standard news site reported on Twitter that the police confirmed about 100 people were injured, with 15 sustaining heavy wounds.
Officials did not identify any suspects behind the attack. The police in the East African nation said they were investigating.
After the explosion, the prime minister said in an address to the nation that “a few people” had been killed in a “well-orchestrated attack,” according to news reports.
He added: “Love always wins. Killing others is a defeat. To those who tried to divide us, I want to tell you that you have not succeeded.” Mr. Abiy offered his condolences to the relatives of the victims.
In a cowboy hat and T-shirt, Mr. Abiy, 41, had been addressing a crowd of supporters wearing clothes displaying his image and carrying signs saying, “One Love, One Ethiopia.”
He told the tens of thousands at the rally that change was coming after years of antigovernment tensions, adding that there was no turning back.
“For the past 100 years, hate has done a great deal of damage to us,” he said, stressing the need for further reforms.
Mr. Abiy — a former soldier, intelligence officer, minister of science and technology, and vice president of the Oromia region — took office in April, pulling Ethiopia back from the brink of a political implosion. The country, rocked in recent years by violent protests, had been in a state of emergency since the previous prime minister’s resignation i n February.
He is one of the youngest leaders in Africa. Mr. Abiy quickly announced the release of tens of thousands of prisoners and the opening of state-owned companies to private investment.
Mr. Abiy also surprised many in Ethiopia, which has East Africa’s largest economy and is a critical player in the regional fight against terrorism, by taking a major step this month toward calming tensions with Eritrea over their disputed border. He said his government would fully accept the terms of a peace agreement signed in 2000.
Some Ethiopians near the border with Eritrea have protested the proposed deal.
The Eritrean ambassador, Estifanos Afeworki, denounced the attack at the rally, writing on Twitter, “#Eritrea strongly condemns the attempt to incite violence, in today’s AA demonstration for peace, 1st of its kind in history of #Ethiopia.”
The United States Embassy in Addis Ababa also tweeted, “We extend our deepest condolences to the victims of the explosion in Meskel Square and their families and wish the injured a quick recovery. Violence has no place as Ethiopia pursues meaningful political and economic reforms.”
