by Engidu Woldie ESAT News (August 8, 2018) One of the suspects on trial for the June 23 assassination attempt on the life of Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed was the anti-terrorism head with the Ethiopian National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), the country’s spy agency. Tesfaye Urge, one of the about 30 suspects arrested after the June 23 assassination ...

by Engidu Woldie ESAT News (August 6, 2018) [UPDATE: As we compile this report, the national defense forces and federal police have been given orders to restore calm and protect the public in the Somali region of Ethiopia, as per a statement by the Office of Government Communication Affairs. The Office said the order has been give based on the ...

ESAT News (July 16, 2018) Administrators of Ethiopia’s Somali and Oromo regions have agreed for federal defense and police forces to intervene to restore peace in their border areas where communal clashes resulted in the death of hundreds of people and the displacement of over a million people. The agreement by Lemma Megersa and Abdi Illey, Presidents of the Oromno ...

by Engidu Woldie ESAT News (July 16, 2018) Eritrea reopened its Embassy in Addis Ababa, two decades after the compound near the soccer stadium in the capital was deserted by the Eritreans and was used for unspecified purposes by the Ethiopian government. The flag raising ceremony at the Embassy came at the conclusion of a three day visit by Eritrean ...

by Engidu Woldie ESAT News (July 11, 2018) Ethiopian Airlines will make its first flight to Asmara, Eritrea, on Wednesday July 18, twenty years after the African giant carrier ceased to fly to its northern neighbor. Fitsum Arega, Chief of Staff for Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed made the announcement in a tweet saying holders of Ethiopian and Eritrean passports ...

by Engidu Woldie ESAT News (July 8, 2018) Ululation of joy and euphoria in the Eritrean capital Asmara early Sunday as Eritreans welcome an Ethiopian leader after two decades of war and bitterness. Well before Ethiopian Airlines carrying Abiy Ahmed touched down at the Asmara International Airport, residents of the city lined up the streets waving the flags of the ...

by Engidu Woldie ESAT News (July 6, 2018) Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed says he expects the country’s economic growth to be under 10% this year. The Premier was speaking today at the Parliament that has approved a budget of 12.6 billion dollars for the fiscal year that begins next week. Ahmed said focus should be given to the growth ...

by Engidu Woldie ESAT News (July 6, 2018) Prisoners at the Jail Ogaden in the Somali region of Ethiopia have been transferred to several other prisons in the region after a report by the Human Rights Watch exposed torture and human rights abuse at the notorious detention center. Abdulahi Hussien, a former advisor to Abdi Illey, the regional president, told ...

by Engidu Woldie ESAT News (July 5, 2018) Ethiopia’s parliament has revoked terrorist labels on three opposition groups, namely Patriotic Ginbot 7, the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF).   The three groups and two others, al Shabaab and al Qaeda, were labeled terrorists by a rubber stamp Parliament, the House of People’s Representatives, seven ...

by Engidu Woldie ESAT News (July 5, 2018) A damning report by a rights watchdog exposed horrific torture committed against prisoners in Jail Ogaden, a prison in the Somali region of Eastern Ethiopia. Located in the regional capital JiJiga, Jail Ogaden holds prisoners accused of being members and supporters of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), a Front that until ...