At least 50 people were killed in Ethiopia’s Oromiya region in protests following the fatal shooting of a popular singer.
Musician Haacaaluu Hundeessaa was shot dead on Monday night in what police said was a targeted killing.
Protests reflecting anger at the killing of a popular figure and a sense of political marginalisation broke out the next morning in the capital and other towns and cities in the surrounding Oromiya region.
Police said late on Tuesday that a policeman was also killed in Addis Ababa, and three explosions there had killed and injured an unspecified number of people.
Prominent Oromo opposition leader Bekele Gerba and media mogul Jawar Mohammed were also arrested when Jawar’s bodyguards refused to disarm during a stand-off with police.
Haacaaluu, whose funeral will be held Thursday, provided a soundtrack to a generation of young protesters. Their three years of bloody street demonstrations forced the unprecedented resignation of the previous prime minister and the appointment of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in 2018.
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