Ethiopian security forces have arrested 15 suspects in a conspiracy to carry out an attack on the UAE embassy in Addis Ababa, state television revealed today (Thursday).
According to the report, a large amount of ammunition, weapons and explosives was seized in the possession of the detainees, during a large police operation in the center of the Ethiopian capital. A statement from the local intelligence agency said: “The group has been given a mission by a foreign terrorist organization and intended to cause great damage to property and human life.”
Some of the detainees were reportedly located near the embassy area and apparently collected intelligence or intended to carry out the attack. The UAE Foreign Ministry has not yet commented on the incident. According to another statement from the Ethiopian media, another group planned to hit the UAE targets in neighboring Sudan and cooperation between the two countries’ security forces thwarted the plot.
The Ethiopian intelligence agency noted that the detainees had been paid by a member of a terrorist organization living in Sweden. While Ethiopia did not specify who was behind the attack, East African countries have in the past been targeted both by the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards but also by Sunni terrorist organizations such as ISIS.
Iranian terrorist agents have in the past carried out attacks against Israeli and American targets in Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique and the organization may be an attempt at revenge for the assassination of the head of the Iranian nuclear project, Muhsan Fahrizda, and the United Arab Emirates’ rapprochement with Israel.