Ethiopia army chief, local officials killed amid regional ‘coup’ bid

ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia’s army chief and a top local leader have been shot dead during an attempt to overthrow a regional government in the north of the country, underscoring political instability as Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed tries to reform the nation.

Violence flared on Saturday afternoon in Amhara, one of nine autonomous regions, when a “hit squad” attacked a meeting of top officials, Abiy’s office said Sunday.

Spokeswoman Billene Seyoum told journalists the Amhara “coup attempt” was led by local security chief Asaminew Tsige, who was only last year released from almost a decade in prison over a 2009 coup plot.

State president Ambachew Mekonnen and his advisor were “gravely injured in the attack and later died of their wounds,” she said, adding that the regional attorney general had been seriously wounded.

“Several hours later in what seems like a co-ordinated attack, the chief of the staff of the national security forces Seare Mekonnen was killed in his home by his bodyguard”, she said. Seare and a visiting retired general were shot dead in his home in the upmarket Bole district of Addis Ababa, home to diplomats, aid workers and expats.

The bodyguard has been apprehended while Asaminew was still on the loose, sources said. There was a heavy police presence outside Seare’s house on Sunday, as mourners, some dressed in black, streamed to his house to pay their respects.

A parking attendant, who asked not to be named, said he heard about 10 minutes of gunfire at the residence at 9:00pm local time on Saturday before security officers arrived. Gedrekiristos Tessaye, 30, said he had come to pay respects to honour Seare’s service to the country.

“I am so worried, I want Ethiopia to be an ambassador of peace and democracy but this kind of event shows that we are heading to anarchy,” he said. Elsewhere in the capital it appeared a normal, quiet Sunday, with shops and restaurants open, however there was heavy security outside Abiy’s offices. According to the statement from Abiy’s office, the situation in Amhara region was “currently under full control”.

Since coming to power in 2018, Abiy has won praise for his reforms to open up the country from the iron-grip of his predecessors, but his moves have also brought to the surface long-running ethnic tensions and territorial disputes. The prime minister took to national television in military fatigues in the early hours of Sunday morning.

“The people of Ethiopia do not believe in silencing, killing and claiming power by spilling the blood of their brothers and sisters,” he said. “They don’t accept totalitarian regimes. They’ve shown that through a common struggle.”