Ethiopian Informer
ADDIS ABABA; June 25 (Ethiopian Informer) – Total internet blackout continued on Tuesday as the Ethiopian government embarked on a large-scale crackdown to counter a deadly coup attempt to overthrow Ethiopia’s second populous Amhara regional state’s governance structure.
The total internet shutdown came immediately after a coup attempt on late Saturday, which left at least 5 senior federal and regional government officials, including the Amhara regional state president, Ambachew Mekonnen, as well as Chief of Staff of the Ethiopian defense forces, Seare Mekonnen, according to the Ethiopian government.
Among the five senior regional and federal government officials who are so far confirmed dead from the gunshot injuries also include Migbaru Kebede, Attorney General of the Amhara regional state, Ezez Wassie, who was an advisor to the Amhara region’s president, as well as Major-General Geza’e Abera, a retired former senior official in the Ethiopian army, the Ethiopian government confirmed Monday.
While three of the regional government officials were killed in the Amhara regional state’s capital Bahir Dar, some 570-km from the capital Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian army chief and Abera were killed in an attack in the capital Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed disclosed in a statement that followed the failed coup d’etat attempt.
Also on late Monday, the Ethiopian government disclosed that the man believed to be the mastermind of the failed coup Brigadier-General Asaminew Tsige, who was the intelligence and security chief of the Amhara regional state, has been killed by a police officer on the outskirt of the regional capital Bahir Dar.
The incident triggered a total internet blackout throughout the East African country as the Ethiopian government launched nationwide crackdown on the organized coup attempt, mainly in the Amhara region and the capital Addis Ababa.
The total internet shutdown on Tuesday spared the African Union (AU) and the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UN-ECA). The two pan African institutions were also affected by the internet blackout that started on late Saturday.
