Ethiopian police arrest 50 people after violence in mosques

ADDIS ABABA, July 24 (Xinhua) – Amhara Regional State Police, north of Ethiopia, announced on Tuesday the arrest of 50 people suspected of 39 to be involved in a violent mosque that left six wounded.

Getachew Muye, Chief Inspector of Dessie The police department of the city said that the violence took place on Monday night when armed groups armed with sticks clashed on the property of a local mosque, said reported the Ethiopian News Agency

. The Recurrence of Violence in the City

A witness told Xinhua that the violence of the mosque involved members of an Islamic Al-Ahbash sect and members of a traditional Islamic sect.

The Al-Ahbash sect presents itself as a moderate bulwark against an increase in ultra-conservative Salafist interpretation of Islam among the Muslim population of Ethiopia.

Muslims make up about 33 percent of Ethiopia's population of 100 million and are generally well integrated into Ethiopian society at large, although in recent years the Ethiopian government has warned of a rising danger of extremism among a part of the Muslim community.