23rd June, 2019
Ethiopia’s state media have reported the assassination of Ambachew Mekonnen, head of Ethiopia’s Amhara state and his advisor during a coup attempt in their state.
Ambachew and his advisor were attacked in their offices on Saturday, state media reported, without saying who was responsible.
In a broadcast on Saturday night, Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed also reported the shooting of army chief of staff while trying to thwart the attempted coup.
Abiy said General Seare Mekonnen was one of several casualties.
But his press secretary, Billene Seyoum, said later that it was unclear whether General Seare had been killed or wounded.
“He was shot by people who are close to him,” Abiy said.
The prime minister said the general had been trying to prevent plotters carrying out a coup in Amhara state, one of Ethiopia’s nine federal states.
Since coming to power last year, Abiy has tried to spearhead political reforms, to open up the once isolated, security-obsessed country of 100 million people on the Horn of Africa.
Abiy has released political prisoners, removed bans on political parties and prosecuted officials accused of gross human rights abuses, but his government is battling mounting violence.
Ethnic bloodshed – long held in check by the state’s iron grip – has flared up in many areas, including Amhara, where the regional government was led by Ambachew Mekonnen.
According to Abiy, regional government officials were in a meeting when a coup attempt occurred.
“There are a few people who were killed while others were injured,” Abiy said.
A regional television broadcaster affiliated with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a member of Abiy’s coalition, reported Seare had been killed, alongside another senior military official, Gize Abera.
Early on Sunday, Brigadier General Tefera Mamo, the head of special forces in Amhara, told state television that “most of the people who attempted the coup have been arrested, although there are a few still at large.”
Residents in Amhara’s capital Bahir Dar said late on Saturday there was gunfire in some neighbourhoods and some roads had been closed off.
Ethiopia is due to hold a national parliamentary election next year. Several opposition groups have called for the polls to be held on time despite the unrest and displacement.