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Ethiopia security forces kill alleged coup leader
[Al Jazeera] Æthiopian security forces have killed the man accused of orchestrating a failed coup d'etat in the northern Amhara region over the weekend.

General Asamnew Tsige, who allegedly led the coup attempt, was shot on Monday near the Amhara state capital Bahir Dar, the prime minister's press secretary, Negussu Tilahun, told Rooters news agency on Monday.

Tilahun declined to give any other details.

"Asaminew Tsige - who has been in hiding since the failed coup attempt over the weekend - has been rubbed out," state broadcaster EBC reported.

The failed putsch on Saturday led to the killing of five bigwigs, including the army chief of staff. The latest to die was the attorney-general of Amhara state, Migbara Kebede, who succumbed to his wounds on Monday.

Asamnew had been on the run with some of his supporters while other plotters have been arrested.

The streets of the capital Addis Ababa appeared calm as military vehicles patrolled the city, while flags were flying at half mast on Monday. Access to the internet appeared to be blocked across Æthiopia, users reported.

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.

Brigadier-General Tefera Mamo, head of special forces in Amhara, told state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
on Sunday "most of the people who attempted the coup have been arrested, although there are a few still on the lam".
An Nahar adds:
Asaminew was only last year released from almost a decade in prison over a 2009 coup plot, under a mass prisoner amnesty that began under former Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and continued under his reformist successor Abiy.

Analysts describe him as a hardline Amhara nationalist who was likely facing removal from his job over efforts to form a militia and rhetoric pushing for territory in neighboring Tigray to be reclaimed.

He recently appeared in a Facebook video calling for civilians to arm themselves in preparation for attack.

Amhara is one of Æthiopia's nine autonomous states and its people are the second-largest ethnic grouping after the Oromo.

Both communities spearheaded two years of anti-government protests which led to the resignation of Hailemariam.
Posted by: Fred 2019-06-25
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=544181