Thirteen suspects have been arrested in connection with the murder of prominent Ethiopian opposition politician Bate Urgessa, police in the troubled Oromia region say.

They haven’t provided details about the identities of the suspects but they said a criminal investigation had been launched.

Mr Bate, a senior figure within the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) opposition party, was shot dead earlier this week.

His body was found on Wednesday morning by the side of the road near a skip in his hometown of Meki.

Family members told local media that he had been taken from his hotel room by “people who looked like government security forces” on Tuesday night.

Oromia’s regional government denied that its security forces were involved in the killing.

Hospital sources told the BBC that Mr Bate’s body exhibited multiple gunshot wounds.

He was buried on Thursday but questions are being raised about whether proper forensic investigations were carried out.

The US and the UK government called for an independent investigation into the killing.