Explosion on bus in Addis kills one, injures three

ADDIS ABABA, Mar 27 (Reuters) A blast on a minibus killed one person and injured three in Addis Ababa today, the first fatality in a string of mysterious explosions in the Ethiopian capital.

Two other blasts struck an abattoir and a small cafe in the city, shattering windows and causing damage inside.

An employee in the cafe said the explosion injured 10 people and ambulances could be seen leaving for the hospital.

Police who had cordoned off the area around the cafe had no immediate comment.

A Reuters reporter at the scene of the bus explosion in southern Addis Ababa said the rear of the 11-seat vehicle was torn apart by the blast.

The bus owner, Berhanu Gebremichael, told Reuters: ''One person was killed in the explosion. Three others were injured slightly and they are in hospital for treatment''.

It was the first death in a wave of attacks that began in January with minor blasts targeting public buildings and hotels.

Although grenade attacks to settle scores are relatively common in Ethiopia, the unexplained blasts have increased political tension in Addis, which was shaken by two bouts of unrest in the wake of disputed parliamentary elections last May.

At least 80 people were killed in clashes between police and opposition demonstrators in June and November.

On March 7 this year, three separate explosions injured at least four people at a restaurant, a market and outside a school.

Ethiopia's government said the plastic explosives used in those blasts were smuggled from neighbouring Eritrea and used by what it called Eritrean-backed ''terrorists''.

Eritrea, which has been locked in a dispute with Ethiopia over their border since a 1998-2000 war that killed 70,000 people, ridiculed the charges.

The Ethiopian government has regularly blamed explosions in the past on Oromo Liberation Forces rebels, fighting for the independence of the southern Oromo region since 1993.

REUTERS SY BST1853