Ethiopian police are arresting young Somali men in the Bole area of the capital Addis Ababa over the past few days and 200 are now in detention. So far, hundreds have been arrested either directly from their homes or on the streets, but many of them have been cleared and released after questioning, fingerprinting and checking their identity papers.
Most of the arrests took place on Tuesday night and Wednesday in the Bole area, the part of the town where most of the Somali community lives. Till Friday morning, police were still holding around 200 men without giving any reason.
Ethiopia's federal police spokesman, Commander Demsash Hailu, has so far not been able to offer any explanation for the arrests, but a Somali embassy spokesman said he understood that security was being tightened before a regional summit.
The embassy spokesman said he understood it had security concerns in the Bole area which is close to Addis Ababa's international airport, especially in the light of the upcoming African Union summit, and he added that if there was a security threat in Bole, then the embassy itself could be the first target.