Ethiopian security forces opened fire today on stone-throwing protesters in the central business district, leaving at least 20 people dead, the independent Ethiopian Human Rights Council said.

Ethiopia’s main opposition coalition said today it will not accept election results for 84 seats that may hold the balance of power in the 547-strong parliament, increasing already high tensions as the nation awaits official results.

Ethiopia’s ruling party claims to have won just over half the seats in the country’s parliamentary election, but opposition leaders declared it was still too early to tell who would form the next government.