At least more than 80 people have died in Ethiopia because of the violent protests following the death of a popular musical Haacaaluu Hundeessaa, Tanzania Updates reports.
Ethiopia 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.
The country capital and other towns and cities in the surrounding Oromiya region saw angry protesters.
The dead included protesters and members of the security forces, spokesman Getachew Balcha said.
In addition to the number of deaths, some businesses had also been set on fire. Also Read: A statue in Boston Depicting a Free Slave Kneeling before Abraham Lincoln to be Removed
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.
Haacaaluu, Abiy, and Jawar are all from Oromo, Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group.
The Oromo people have long complained of being excluded from power.
The army has been deployed in the country’s capital Addis Ababa following a second day of protests sparked by the assassination of the popular musician.
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