One shot dead’ at Ethiopia anti-government protest
One person has been shot dead at an anti-government protest in Ethiopia, a medical official is quoted as saying by AFP news agency.
The protest was in the city of Mekelle, which is the capital of Ethiopia’s Tigray region – where the federal government has been fighting the state’s former ruling party since November.
“The head of our transport division was injured. He was beaten by soldiers along with his son and he’s getting treatment in the hospital… He told the physicians that there are lots of injured in the street but nobody is bringing them to the hospital,” an unnamed doctor is quoted by AFP as saying
AFP adds that multiple Tigray residents told their reporter that many businesses were closed Tuesday as a way of showing anger with the federal government.
“The government is trying to show the international community that everything is going well in Tigray and peace is already completely stabilised… It was like the protest was to prevent this false information,” another resident is also quoted by AFP as saying.
Conflict broke out in November after the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) seized federal military bases in the region following a breakdown in relations with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government.
