The Ethiopian police have arrested 56 members of an Amhara political party after a failed coup attempt killed dozens in the country, reported Reuters.
According to Christian Tadele, spokesman for the National Movement of Amhara, the arrests took place in the national capital Addis Ababa.
The National Movement of Amhara has become increasingly popular among the ethnic group that comprises around a quarter of Ethiopia’s population. The party has condemned the violence that took place in the region and denies any link to an attempt to seize power there.
The regional government spokesman released the first official report on the coup attempt on Wednesday. As per the report, the failed coup attempt by a rogue state militia group in Ethiopia’s Amhara region killed dozens of people last week.
The militia attacked the regional police headquarters, ruling party headquarters and regional president’s office in Amhara’s regional capital of Bahir Dar on Saturday and executed five senior officials.
Asemahagh Aseres told Reuters that the militia group that attempted the coup was made up of members of a recently recruited unit of the region’s security services, and had appealed for others to join its take-over but been rebuffed.
The government has accused Amhara’s former security chief of masterminding the twin 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.
The Ethiopian security forces shot dead the alleged coup mastermind Asamnew Tsige on Monday, according to the prime minister’s office. He was accused of trying to seize control of Amhara, not the whole country. Tsige had served nearly ten years in jail for a previous coup plot but was released as part of amnesty last year.
