Addis Ababa: Ethiopia’s army chief of staff and the regional president ofthe northern state of Amhara were killed in two related attacks when ageneral tried to seize control of Amhara in an attempted coup, the primeminister’s office said on Sunday.
Amhara state president Ambachew Mekonnen and his advisor were shot dead andthe state’s attorney general was wounded in Amhara’s capital of Bahir Daron Saturday evening, according to a statement from the office of PrimeMinister Abiy Ahmed.
In a separate but related attack the same night, Ethiopia’s army Chief ofStaff Seare Mekonnen and another retired general were shot dead in Seare’shome in Addis Ababa by his bodyguard.
Abiy’s office named Amhara state security head General Asamnew Tsige asresponsible for the foiled coup, without giving details of his whereabouts.Asamnew was released from prison last year, having been given an amnestyfor a similar coup attempt, according to media reports.
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Abiy took office just over a year ago and embarked on unprecedented reformsin Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous country and one of itsfastest-growing economies.
