- Nineteen prisoners use cutlery to break out of cells at Winchester prison
- France wants progress in Ukraine before Russia returns to G7
- Italy president begins talks to seek way out of government crisis
- Italian PM expected to resign as political chaos deepens
- Russia says US cruise missile test ‘regrettable’
- Kremlin - No date set for Normandy talks on Ukraine despite Macron meeting
- Egypt court hands out 6 death sentences on terror charges
- Putin says Russian nuclear explosion poses no threat
- Russian panel eyes alleged foreign interference in protests
- Gran Canaria wildfire triggers evacuation of thousands of people
- PM Johnson calls on Germany and France to compromise on Brexit
- Sudan's ex-president Bashir arrives at corruption trial
TEHRAN, Jun 26 - Thousands lined the streets in Ethiopia's two main northern cities on Wednesday to mourn officials killed in a failed regional coup, as soldiers looked on and priests called for unity after months of ethnically-charged strife.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - Snipers stood on roofs in Amhara's regional capital Bahir Dar and security services mixed with the crowds in a show of strength four days after the killings that posed the biggest threat yet to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's reforms.
Thousands also gathered at a monument in Mekelle, capital of Tigray region, which was the home of the national army's chief of staff, Seare Mekonnen, who was shot dead by his bodyguard late on Saturday.
The government has accused Amhara's former security chief of masterminding gun attacks that killed the region's president Ambachew Mekonnen and two other officials in Bahir Dar, and the chief of staff and another general 500 miles away in the national capital Addis Ababa.
Asamnew Tsige, who the government said was shot dead by security forces on Monday, was accused of trying to seize control of Amhara, not the whole country.
But that was still a strike at the heart of Ethiopia’s political system – a federation stitched from a patchwork of ethnic groups and traditions.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took power 15 months ago and has won widespread international praise for kickstarting political and economic reforms. But his shake-up of the military and intelligence services has earned him powerful enemies at home.
His government is also struggling to contain discontent from Ethiopia's myriad ethnic groups fighting the federal government and each other for greater influence and resources.
Outbreaks of ethnic violence have displaced around 2.4 million people, according to the United Nations.
Source: Reuters
Your Comment