The 68 are suspected of playing a part in violence both before and after the return of the once-banned Oromo Liberation Front.

The rebel group returned to Addis Ababa following political reforms introduced by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

The clashes involved young men from the ethnically-mixed city of around four million people and Oromos who had come into Addis Ababa to welcome the OLF.

The 68 suspects come from both sides of the divide during the clashes, which also caused millions of dollars in damage.

"The suspects are accused of engaging in road closures, arson, engaging in forced displacement of thousands of people and inflicting bodily harm using blunt weapons as well as modern firearms," stated the charge sheet, according to the private news website Ethiopian Reporter.

The government put the death toll at 49, although hospital sources told AFP some 68 had been killed.

Most of the fatalities had been stabbed to death or died after being beaten with sticks and rocks.