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Protesters damage Turkish-owned factory near Ethiopia’s capital

Police officers wait in a pickup truck during the Oromo new year holiday, Irreechaa, in Bishoftu, Ethiopia, October 2, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

Crowds of protesters have attacked and partially destroyed an Ethiopian factory run by a Turkish textile firm as a wave of anti-government sentiments rages on in Oromiya region near the capital, Addis Ababa.

General Manager Fatih Mehmet Yangin said on Wednesday that the assault wrecked about a third of the plant in the town of Sebeta, located about 35 kilometers southwest of Addis Ababa.

"A large crowd attacked the factory," burning the weaving section and three vehicles, said Yangin.

The plant, which is run by Turkish textile firm, Saygin Dima, and employs about 1,000 people, opened in 2012 and exports yarn and fabric, one of the sectors the Ethiopian government is seeking to develop.

In recent weeks, several foreign-owned flower farms and factories have been burnt to the ground or partially damaged.

In a separate development, the US embassy in the Horn of Africa country said an American woman was killed on Tuesday when stones were hurled at her vehicle on the outskirts of Addis Ababa.

At least 55 people were reportedly killed after clashes between protesters and Ethiopian police turned into a stampede in the town of Bishoftu in Oromiya on October 2.

According to witnesses, the participants chanted anti-government slogans, and when police intervened, the crowd panicked and fled, creating a stampede, with many of the protesters falling into a nearby deep ditch amid the chaos.

The region has been the scene of sporadic protests over the past few years.

Protesters throw stones after a deadly stampede during the Oromo new year holiday Irreechaa in Bishoftu, Ethiopia, October 2, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

The demonstrations were sparked by a government plan to expand the municipal boundaries of the capital city into Oromiya, a move that could result in farmers from the Oromo ethnic group being displaced and losing their land and property.

The Ethiopian government was forced to withhold the expansion project in January but sporadic protests have continued in the region.

A report by Human Rights Watch in June said security forces had repeatedly used lethal force, including by firing live ammunition, to break up many of the 500 reported protests that have occurred since November last year.

Oromiya, with at least 27 million people, is the most populous of the East African country’s federal states, surrounding Addis Ababa, on all sides.

Tensions have been compounded by the country’s worst drought in 50 years, which was caused by subnormal rainfalls.


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