Ethiopian police have arrested fifty six members of an Ethiopian opposition party, the National Movement of Amhara, following a failed attempt to seize power in the province.
Spokesman for the party, Christian Tadele, said 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.
Since its founding last year, the party has emerged as a rival to an Amhara party in the ruling EPRDF coalition. It has condemned the violence that took place in the region and denied any link to an attempt to seize power there.
On Saturday, gunmen shot dead two top military officials in Addis Ababa and three top regional officials in Bahir Dar, the capital of Amhara region, in what the government called a failed regional coup.
The government also accused the region’s security chief, General Asamnew Tsige, an Amhara ethnic nationalist, of trying to seize power in the region. He was killed by government forces on Monday.
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