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Army chief shot dead in coup attempt in Ethiopia
[France 24] Ethiopia's army chief of staff and at least three other senior officials have been killed during a coup attempt by an army general in the northern state of Amhara, state television said on Sunday.Amhara's state president Ambachew Mekonnen and his adviser were also killed, according to state media, which named the region's security head, General Asamnew Tsige, as the orchestrator of the attempted coup. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government faces growing pressure from regional strongmen, including in Amhara, a flashpoint in growing ethnic violence in Ethiopia. The shooting occurred when federal officials were meeting the state president – an ally of Abiy – to discuss how to rein in the open recruitment of ethnic militias by Asamnew, one Addis-based official told Reuters. A week earlier, Asamnew had openly advised the Amhara people, one of Ethiopia's larger ethnic groups, to arm themselves, in a video spread on Facebook and seen by a Reuters reporter. Posted by: Frank G 2019-06-23 |
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