A musician’s murder sparks mayhem in Ethiopia

FOR TWO nights the sharp retort of gunfire crackled through the pitter-patter of summer rain. Across the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, cars and petrol stations were burnt; shops and businesses were looted and vandalised; homes and banks were robbed. At least ten people were killed in clashes between rioters and the police in the city. Many more were injured. Similar confrontations took place in towns throughout Oromia, the largest of Ethiopia’s nine ethnically based regions and one that has been the site of repeated bouts of violence in recent years. In the country as a whole at least 166 people were killed, making this one of the deadliest episodes in Ethiopia’s already bloody transition from authoritarian rule.The spark was the murder on June 29th of Hachalu Hundessa, a popular Oromo musician and activist. Oromos, who make up roughly a third of the population, are the largest and recently the most rebellious of Ethiopia's many ethnic groups. The prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, who is also Oromo, quickly offered his condolences. He said in a statement that the assassins’ aim was not just to kill Hachalu, “but through him to kill Ethiopia."