Four killed in Ethiopia explosion

An explosion outside a hotel in Ethiopia’s volatile east has killed four people and injured 20 others, according to a federal police spokesman.

Spokesman Demsash Hailu said the blast went off at 10:20am (8.20am Irish Time) today outside a hotel in the eastern Ethiopia town of Jijiga.

Mr Demsash said “I think it is a criminal act. It’s not an accident. It was a terrorist action.”

He said the explosion killed or injured people in front of the hotel and on the street but did not damage the hotel.

He would not say who police think is responsible.

Jijiga is the capital of Ethiopia’s Somali region, where separatist rebels are fighting for autonomy.