Ethiopian Army Chief Killed as Government Says It Thwarts Coup
Ethiopian Army Chief Killed as Government Says It Thwarts Coup
(Bloomberg) -- The Ethiopian army’s chief of staff was shot dead by a bodyguard in what the government of Africa’s second-most populous country said was an assassination related to an attempted coup.
General Seare Mekonnen and retired Major General Gezai Abera were killed Saturday at the army chief’s residence in the capital, Addis Ababa, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office said in an emailed statement. Authorities arrested the bodyguard.
The government earlier thwarted a would-be coup in Ethiopia’s northern Amhara region that claimed the lives of the regional authority’s president, Ambachew Mekonnen, and his adviser, Ezez Wassie. Amhara region’s attorney-general, Migbaru Kebede, was injured and is in a hospital, the government said Sunday.
“The situation in the Amhara region is currently under full control by the federation government in collaboration with the regional government,” it said.
Regional Unrest
Amhara region has been wracked by unrest for the past three years as separatists there and in other states call for greater self-determination. Abiy has tried to show that the central government is concerned about all regions of the nation by making his administration more inclusive, even as the ruling party remains divided over his reform agenda.
Authorities tightened security across the country and canceled large public gatherings, the prime minister said earlier on national television. The U.S. embassy in Addis Ababa confirmed reports of gunshots in the city on Saturday night. Access to the Internet has been shut down across the nation following reports of the killings, according to Netblocks, an advocacy group that monitors cyber-security.
Conflicts have erupted in Ethiopia since Abiy assumed office last year and began political and economic reforms. An explosion on June 23 of last year struck a rally in Addis Ababa where Abiy was addressing thousands of supporters. The country, a federation of more than 80 ethnic groups, plans to hold general elections in 2020.
To contact the reporter on this story: Samuel Gebre in Abidjan at sgebre@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Malingha at dmalingha@bloomberg.net, Bruce Stanley
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.