Coordinated hotel bombings in Negele Boran killed 3 and injured 5, with a Somali militant group claiming responsibility on the anniversary of the Derg's overthrow.
Key Facts
- Date
- 28 May 2008
- Number of bombs
- 2
- Deaths
- 3
- Injured
- 5
- Time between detonations
- 3 minutes
- Target hotels
- Kidane Mihret Hotel and Shuferoch Hotel
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
A Somali militant group, whose leader broadcast a statement via Mogadishu-based Radio Shebelle, declared the attack was directed against Ethiopians as 'the enemy of Islam.' The bombings occurred on the 17th anniversary of Meles Zenawi's overthrow of the Derg military government, suggesting a symbolic timing.
On the night of 28 May 2008, two bombs were detonated three minutes apart at the Kidane Mihret Hotel and the nearby Shuferoch Hotel in Negele Boran, Oromia Region, Ethiopia. The blasts killed 3 people and wounded 5 others.
The Ethiopian government did not officially confirm the identity of the perpetrators. Responsibility was claimed by a Somali militant group via Radio Shebelle, highlighting cross-border militant activity and tensions between Ethiopia and Somali Islamist groups during that period.