Bomb explodes on fuel tanker

A small bomb planted on a fuel tanker travelling into the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, has exploded but miraculously no-one was killed, government officials said on Tuesday.

A second bomb planted on another Ethiopian tanker was spotted and defused by bomb squad experts, government spokesman Zemedkun Teckle added.

“Fortunately no one was injured in the explosion,” Zemedkun said. “The police are still investigating and it is too early to say who might be responsible.”

The bombs were planted on the two trucks carrying petrol from Djibouti. The first truck was completely destroyed in the blast which occurred on Sunday night.

So far no-one has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Ethiopia has been hit by sporadic bomb attacks in recent years, many of which the government has blamed on the rebel Oromo Liberation Front (OLF).

In September 2002, two people died when a bomb exploded on a passenger train travelling from Djibouti to Ethiopia.

The government accused the rebels of carrying out that attack, an accusation they denied. They did, however, claim responsibility for a similar bomb attack on the same line in June that year, which damaged a terminal building and a train carriage.

Ethiopian police have appealed to the public for information on the latest attacks.