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Ethiopia’s government says it thwarted renegade general’s coup attempt

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announces a failed coup as he addresses the public on television on Sunday. (AP)
By Paul Schemm
June 23 at 6:35 AM

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — A coup attempt by a renegade general in one of Ethiopia’s largest regional states resulted in the death of four officials, including the national army’s chief of staff and the president of the region, the government announced Sunday.

On Saturday evening, gunmen attacked an executive meeting of the Amhara regional state in the city of Bahir Dar killing its president Ambachew Mekonnen and his top adviser and grievously injuring the regional attorney general. Hours later, in the capital Addis, the army chief of staff Gen. Seare Mekonnen’s bodyguard opened fire on him, killing him and an associate.

Government spokeswoman Bilene Seyoum blamed the attack on a recently amnestied brigadier general who had been imprisoned for his political views by the previous government several years before.

“The coup attempt and attack was orchestrated by Brig. Gen. Asaminew Tsige, the Amhara peace and security head with other agents,” she told journalists. “He and his colleagues were given amnesty over the last year by the new administration as well as amid efforts to integrate them back to regular life.”

She said most of the perpetrators, including Seare’s bodyguard were in custody and operations were underway to sweep up the remaining accomplices. The Amhara region was “currently under 100 percent control.”

Ethiopia, Africa’s second largest country by population, is a key U.S. ally in the fight against terror in the Horn of Africa and an important source of stability in the restive region.

The country’s politics have undergone a dramatic change over the last year, with the arrival of new reformist prime minister that has invited back exiled opposition politicians and guerrilla groups as well as freed thousands of political prisoners.

Asaminew had been imprisoned by the previous regime for his opposition to the government and his release and appointment to head of security was part of the larger reconciliation process.

The new freedoms, however, have allowed long simmering tensions to rise to the surface and millions have been displace in ethnic-based land conflicts around the country.

In 2018, with some 3 million driven from their homes, Ethiopia had the largest number of newly displaced in the world.

There has also been a great deal of political ferment in the ethnic-based regions that make up the country with the rise of nationalist ethnic groups pushing for greater regional autonomy from the central government.

As news of the coup attempt in Bahir Dar and the attack on the chief of staff’s home in the heart of the capital trickled out Saturday night, social media exploded with rumors and speculation over what was taking place. Within a few hours, all access to the Internet had been shut down and army and police checkpoints sprung up around the capital.

Abiy, the prime minister, appeared on television at midnight dressed in military fatigues to call for calm and ensure the country that the situation was under control.

Since coming to power, Abiy made piece with long time rival Eritrea and has been active in brokering peace deals between fractious neighbors in the region.

Most recently he has been active in mediating between the military transitional rulers in Sudan and protesters.

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