Students protesting development plan met with violence in Ethiopia
Activists claim security forces have killed at least seven students in more than two weeks across Ethiopia’s Oromia state, where students have been protesting a government plan to expand the area of the capital, Addis Ababa, into Oromia. Oromia police have confirmed three fatalities in what it termed provocations by “ anti-peace elements .” Images of severely injured students have been posted on social media, and hundreds of other protesters have reportedly been rounded up in a crackdown on those demonstrating against several state-led development projects. Oromo students, the opposition and diaspora activists liken the proposed Addis Ababa and the Surrounding Oromia Special Zone Integrated Development Plan, or the Master Plan, to a land grab . They fear that it will displace Oromo farmers and undermine Oromia’s interests by expanding Addis Ababa’s boundaries. Addis Ababa is in the state of Oromia and serves as the regional and federal capital. In theory, the Ethiopian c