Ethiopian military chief, regional president killed in failed coup attempt

Abiy Ahmed.
(Image credit: MICHEL EULER/AFP/Getty Images)

Ethiopia's government has reportedly quelled a coup, but not before the military's chief of staff and a regional president were killed in separate attacks.

General Seare Mekonnen, whom Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed named head of the military last year, was reportedly killed — along with another general, Gezai Abera — at his residence in Addis Ababa by his bodyguard, who is now in custody. Meanwhile, the president of the Amhara region, Ambachew Mekonnen, a key ally of the prime minister, was killed in his office along with his senior adviser, Ezez Wasie. The attacks are believed to be linked.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.