{"id":645403,"date":"2019-06-25T18:02:48","date_gmt":"2019-06-25T18:02:48","guid":{"rendered":"
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General Asamnew Tsige, accused of trying to seize control of Ethiopia\u2019s northern Amhara region has been killed, a senior government official said, and a number of other plotters have been arrested.<\/p>\n

The government accused General Asamnew of masterminding gun attacks on Saturday night that killed five people including the national army\u2019s chief of staff and Amhara\u2019s state president.<\/p>\n

Asamnew was shot on Monday near Amhara\u2019s capital Bahir Dar, the prime minister\u2019s press secretary, Negussu Tilahun, said.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Earlier reports said the man was on the run, along with some of his supporters, while some of the plotters have been arrested.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main people behind the failed coup are still at large and the security forces are hunting them,\u201d the prime minister\u2019s press secretary, Negussu Tilahun, said.<\/p>\n

Army chief of staff Seare Mekonnen and a retired general were shot by Seare\u2019s bodyguard at his residence in the national capital Addis Ababa, the prime minister\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n

Amhara state president Ambachew Mekonnen and an adviser were killed in the region\u2019s main city Bahir Dar, it added. Amhara\u2019s attorney general was also shot, and died of his wounds on Monday, state media reported.<\/p>\n

Access to the internet appeared to be blocked across Ethiopia, users reported. The streets of Addis Ababa appeared calm on Monday.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The reforms in Africa\u2019s second-most populous country have won him widespread international praise.<\/p>\n

But the premier\u2019s 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\u2019s myriad ethnic groups fighting the federal government and each other for greater influence and resources.<\/p>\n

The shooting in Bahir Dar occurred when the state president \u2013 an ally of Abiy \u2013 was holding a meeting to decide how to stop Asamnew\u2019s open recruitment of ethnic Amhara militias, one Addis-based official told Reuters.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Asamnew himself was released from prison last year after receiving an amnesty for a similar coup attempt.<\/p>\n

William Davison, an Ethiopia analyst at global think-tank Crisis Group, said more information was needed on the attack on Seare.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t appear to have been a concerted national coup attempt. It\u2019s 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,\u201d he said. \u201cMore detail is needed on that aspect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Long-simmering ethnic tensions in Amhara and other areas has surged since Abiy\u2019s reforms. At least 2.4 million people have fled fighting, according to the United Nations.<\/p>\n

Ethiopia observed a day of national mourning on Monday, parliament speaker Tagesse Chafo said on state television.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Amhara is home to Ethiopia\u2019s second largest ethnic group and gives its name to the state language, Amharic.<\/p>\n

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