ESAT News (September 22, 2016)
One of the alleged arsonists caught in Gondar
Seven people from Tigray region were caught in Gondar for allegedly trying to make arson attack on businesses in the city, sources told ESAT.
Reports reaching ESAT from Gondar say the arsonists were caught on Wednesday and Thursday with evidences of fuel and other combustibles in their possession.
A lady, whose name is withheld, and two men were caught on Thursday by residents while trying to start a fire. Four others were arrested on Wednesday when they were about to set ablaze shops that were saved from the recent fire at a Saturday market that fire gutted down a number of shops last week.
The residents, who caught the arsonists, have handed them over to the custody of the local police.
Witnesses told ESAT that all the five arsonist said they came from Tigray region and were sent to carry out arson attacks in Gondar. One of the arsonists have reportedly swallowed the SIM card of his phone when confronted by the residents in a bid to hide his contacts. Questioning by police revealed that there are 50 arsonists sent to Gondar and Bahir Dar to set fire on businesses and public transportation, according to the sources.
The sources allege that the arsonists were trained in Adwa, Tigray and were sent to Gondar to carry out the crime in an attempt by the regime to incite ethnic strife. Their IDs confirmed that they were from Tigray and some of them were provided with a special pass to come to Gondar to carry out the arson attack, residents allege. Their bank notes show a huge amount of money has been deposited to their account, the witnesses who talked to ESAT said.
The residents accuse the TPLF regime of plotting to incite ethnic violence as uprising against the regime was getting even stronger. They say it was an attempt by the regime to sidetrack the issue to ethnic tension between the people of Tigray and Amhara.