The well-known singer Haacaalu Hundeessaa was shot and killed on June 29, 2020, in Addis Ababa. His political texts had made him one of the strong voices of the Oromo ethnic group, the most important one in the country.
The army was stationed in the capital of Ethiopia on Wednesday as armed gangs roamed the neighborhoods on the second day of unrest that claimed more than 80 lives.
Protests after the shooting, and a sense of political marginalization, broke out the next day in the capital and other cities and towns across the Oromia region.
The assassination of Haacaalu, the country’s main ethnic group, has fueled tensions that jeopardize to disrupt the country’s political transition.
“So far 81 people have been killed, including three members of the Oromia Special Police Force;” said Bedassa Merdasa, Chief of the Oromia Police Force.
Gunshots echoed through several neighborhoods and gangs armed with machetes and sticks roamed the streets. Witnesses have identified young people of Oromo origins were approached by some of the other ethnic groups in the region; and both sides clashed with the authorities.
“We had a meeting with the community, and we were told to equip ourselves with whatever we have; like machetes and sticks. We no longer trust the police to protect us, so we have to brace ourselves;” said one resident of Addis Ababa, who, like others interviewed, requested not to be identified for fear of reprisal.
Among the dead were demonstrators and members of the security forces, government spokesman Getachew Balcha told Reuters. Some businesses had also been set on fire. “We were not prepared for this,” he said. Police said late on 30 June that a policeman was also killed in Addis Ababa and that three explosions killed and injured an unknown number of people.
‘Dangerous situation’
Haacaalu offered a backdrop to a generation of young revolutionaries.
Their three years of bloody street protests led to the extraordinary resignation of the former prime minister and the election of Abiy Ahmed in 2018.
Abiy, Haacaalu and Jawar are all Oromo, the main ethnic group in Ethiopia that has complained for years of being marginalized from power.
Ethiopia, the cultural melting pot of 100 million people, has faced deadly intercommunal conflicts in recent years; a significant challenge to Abiy’s attempts to bring democratic change in a world long dominated by Addis Ababa iron fist.
“The assassination of an influential Oromo musician, ensuing demonstrations in areas involving the destruction of properties and the use of deadly force by security forces, and the detention of Oromo politicians, are creating a volatile situation and are another threat to the precarious transition in Ethiopia,” said William Davison, an analyst with the International Crisis Group.
Source: Aljazeera
