ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia: More than 80 people have been killed in unrest in Ethiopia after a popular singer was shot dead this week, the state-run Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation says. Hachalu Hundessa was buried Thursday amid tight security.

He had been a prominent voice in anti-government protests that led to a change in leadership in 2018. Angry protests, including three bomb blasts, followed his death Monday in the capital, Addis Ababa. Scores of people were killed the next day, police in the Oromia region told the state broadcaster.

The unrest poses a major challenge for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who took power in 2018 and introduced sweeping political reforms for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year. The singer’s killing has further increased tensions after the government recently delayed the national election, citing the coronavirus pandemic.

Abiy on Thursday said the government will do whatever it takes to restore calm, and he accused the singer’s killers of trying to kill the country as well. RSS/AP