A blast ripped through a crowd in Ethiopia's volatile Somali region today, killing at least five people and setting off a stampede in which up to six more died, according to witnesses and aid workers.
The Ethiopian government blamed the attack on the Ogaden National Liberation Movement (ONLF), separatist rebels who have been increasingly active in the remote east and last month attacked a Chinese-run oil exploration field, killing 74.
But an ONLF spokesman denied involvement.
Senior Ethiopian government official Bereket Simon said it was a grenade attack and that local Somali region president Abdullahi Hassan was wounded in the leg.
"The culprit is none other than a member of the ONLF which is supported by Eritrea," he told reporters.
Aid agency sources said the attack happened as hundreds of people were gathered at the stadium in Jijiga town's Revolutionary Square for a ceremony marking the overthrow of former dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam.
An eyewitness, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal in the tense, heavily militarised region, said five people died in the initial blast.
"It was a huge explosion, bigger than hand grenades. It was like lots of dynamite," the local man, who was in the crowd, told Reuters by phone.
"The president was speaking, surrounded by people from the band and a traditional dance group. Then the explosion happened and he was blown 10 metres away. Most of the people injured were from the band.... I saw five bodies later in the hospital."