By RFIPubliée on 27-06-2019Modified on 27-06-2019 at 16:07

Dozens of members and supporters of the National Amhara Movement (NaMa) were arrested on June 27 in connection with what the authorities describe as an "attempted coup d'etat" on June 22 against the government of the Amhara region, in northwestern Ethiopia.

In Ethiopia, a few days after the murderous incident last weekend in the Amhara region, dozens of activists and supporters of the Amhara National Movement were arrested on Thursday, June 27 by the authorities, according to the spokesman of this nationalist party.

To explain the incident, the Ethiopian government had referred to an attempted " regional coup " led by the province's chief of security, a general of nationalist obedience close to the party, who had urged the Amharas to arm yourself to defend yourself. This incident cost the life of the army chief of staff and several senior officials of Amhara State.

Reuters collected the first direct accounts of the coup that took place in the capital of Amhara, Bahir Dar, on June 22 around 16h. Guests at a cafe next to the local government headquarters evoke the sudden arrival of men in heavily armed uniforms on board trucks, and storming the offices where the state leaders were meeting. .

Diversion

All took cover while a shooting began, during which the governor of the state, his main adviser and the attorney general were shot down. According to the spokesman of the state present in the building, those who survived are those who hid during the attack, which would have lasted five hours. Several corroborating sources also mention failed attempts to take over the headquarters of regional television and a police station, as well as the headquarters of the ruling coalition.

According to the spokesman quoted by Reuters, the attackers were part of the security forces of the state, under the command of General Asaminew Tsige, shot on June 24 by the police while he was on the run. But they would not have been able to convince all the soldiers in their corps to join them and would have withdrawn from the city after being outnumbered by loyalist forces.

That same evening in the federal capital, the army chief of staff and a councilor were shot dead by a newly appointed bodyguard and an accomplice, according to a witness. According to the government, this was a diversion aimed at destabilizing the federal authorities during the coup that was being fought 300 kilometers away.

► To (read): Ethiopia: regional "coup attempt", Amhara at the center of attention

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