Ethiopia: Assassination of famous Oromo singer causes clashes in Addis Ababa

Text by: RFI Follow

The situation has been tense since Tuesday morning in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. The Internet is also cut in several regions of the country, according to data from traffic monitoring sites. This follows the assassination, Monday evening, of a famous militant singer Oromo.

Publicity

Hachalu Hundessa died in hospital overnight. The image of her body under a blanket very quickly circulated on social networks. It must be said that this young man of 34 years was an idol, and not only because he had a beautiful smile and catchy songs: he was also an activist for the cause of the Oromo people and their misfortunes for two centuries, in an Ethiopian group where he considers himself mistreated.

But around 9:30 p.m. Monday evening, his voice was completely silent. The exact circumstances of his assassination are still unknown. What is certain is that one or more shooters targeted him in the street, in front of a recent building complex, in a southern suburb of Addis Ababa, according to the police.

Clashes in the capital

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, himself an Oromo but disputed within his nation of origin, immediately expressed his "  sorrow  " at the loss of "  this precious life  ". He ordered a rapid investigation report, as did the Ethiopian attorney general, Adanech Abebe, who swore that "  no one would escape justice  ".

Tuesday morning, the body of Hachalu Hundessa was to be repatriated to his stronghold of Ambo, west of Addis Ababa. According to a testimony, young Oromos prevented his departure from the hospital and demanded a national funeral for the one who is seen as a martyr for the patriotic cause.

Since then, the situation has been particularly tense. In addition to the internet outage, telephone lines are difficult to reach from outside the country. Several embassies have reported skirmishes in several parts of the city, as well as in the Oromiya region.

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• Ethiopia

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