Summary
A failed coup attempt in Ethiopia last Saturday left five people dead and several arrested. Among those killed were the national army’s chief of staff and the Amhara region’s president. As a result, the following Monday was declared a day of mourning.
The Ethiopian government places blame behind the attacks on General Asamnew Tsige, who they say was shot on Monday, but refuse to comment further on the matter. Tsige was one of many in the country who was released from prison following Abiy Ahmed’s decision to provide amnesty to those engaged in separatist groups. Following his release, however, Tsige was attempting to build a militia to take over the Amhara region, being so bold as to spread recruitment videos on social media. As it stands though, many are puzzled by what those behind the coup attempt expected from the attack and subsequent killing of the army chief of staff. Details on the matter are not yet forthcoming and remain nebulous. Though, what is clear is that there still is much work left to be done in Ethiopia, especially regarding elections which are expected to take place in a year’s time.
Ethiopia regional coup mastermind killed, others arrested
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – The man accused of trying to seize control of Ethiopia’s northern Amhara region was shot dead on Monday, a senior government official said, and a number of other plotters have been arrested.
The government accused General Asamnew Tsige of masterminding gun attacks on Saturday night that killed five people including the national army’s chief of staff and Amhara’s state president.
Asamnew was shot on Monday near Amhara’s capital Bahir Dar, the prime minister’s press secretary, Negussu Tilahun, told Reuters. He declined to give any other details.
The reasons behind the attempted coup in the state remain unclear, although it may have been a reaction from Asamnew to a plan by state officials to rein him in after they were alarmed by reports of his ethnic rhetoric and recruitment of militias.
Saturday’s violence unfolded in two separate attacks.
Army chief of staff Seare Mekonnen and a retired general were shot by Seare’s bodyguard at his residence in the national capital Addis Ababa.
Amhara state president Ambachew Mekonnen and an adviser were killed in the region’s main city Bahir Dar. Amhara’s attorney general was also shot, and died of his wounds on Monday, state media reported.
Access to the internet appeared to be blocked across Ethiopia, users reported. The streets of Addis Ababa appeared calm on Monday.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has pushed through sweeping changes since coming to power in April last year, making peace with Eritrea, reining in the security services, releasing political prisoners and lifting bans on some outlawed separatist groups.
The reforms in Africa’s second-most populous country have won him widespread international praise.
But the premier’s shake-up of the military and intelligence services has earned him powerful enemies at home, while his government is struggling to contain powerful figures in Ethiopia’s myriad ethnic groups fighting the federal government and each other for greater influence and resources.
The shooting in Bahir Dar at the weekend occurred when the state president – an ally of Abiy – was holding a meeting to decide how to stop Asamnew’s open recruitment of ethnic Amhara militias, one Addis-based official told Reuters.
Asamnew had told the Amhara people to arm themselves and prepare for fighting against other groups, in a video spread on Facebook a week earlier. Amhara is home to Ethiopia’s second largest ethnic group and gives its name to the state language, Amharic.
Asamnew himself was released from prison last year after receiving an amnesty for a similar coup attempt.
William Davison, an Ethiopia analyst at global think-tank Crisis Group, said more information was needed on the attack on Seare.
“It doesn’t appear to have been a concerted national coup attempt. It’s not obvious what the motivations were for anyone to assassinate the chief of staff, or whether he had any connections to the violence in Bahir Dar,” he said. “More detail is needed on that aspect.”
Long-simmering ethnic tensions in Amhara and other areas has surged since Abiy’s reforms. At least 2.4 million people have fled fighting, according to the United Nations.
Ethiopia will observe a day of national mourning on Monday, parliament speaker Tagesse Chafo said on state television.
Ethiopia is due to hold parliamentary elections next year, although the electoral board warned earlier this month that they were behind schedule and that instability could cause a problem for polling.
Source: Reuters, Dawit Endeshaw, June. 24, 2019. Photo credit to Eduardo Soteras / AFP/Getty Images.