All articles tagged with #amhara
At least 25 people, including children and elderly, were killed and over a hundred injured when a church under construction collapsed during an event in Ethiopia's Amhara region, with the death toll potentially rising.
The UN human rights office reported that fighting between Ethiopia's military and militiamen in the Amhara region has resulted in the deaths of at least 183 people, with over 1,000 arrests made nationwide. The conflict, fueled by accusations that the government is undermining Amhara's security, has seen government forces reclaim major towns and cities, but clashes continue. Fresh fighting in the town of Debre Tabor resulted in at least four deaths. The UN called on all actors to cease killings and violations, while the government has yet to comment on the situation.
The United Nations Human Rights Office has expressed concern over the deteriorating human rights situation in Ethiopia, particularly in the Amhara region. The state of emergency declared in August has led to mass arrests, with over 1,000 people detained, many of whom are young Amhara ethnic origin suspected of supporting the Fano militia. Reports indicate that detainees are being held in improvised detention centers lacking basic amenities. The UN calls on authorities to stop mass arrests, ensure judicial review of detentions, and grant access to oversight bodies. Allegations of ethnic Tigrayans being detained in Western Tigray and human rights violations in Oromia are also of concern. The UN urges prompt investigations and accountability for all human rights violations and abuses in Ethiopia.
Calm has returned to Ethiopia's Amhara region after days of violent protests against the federal government's plans to integrate local defense forces into the police and national army. The protesters fear that the integration would leave their state vulnerable to attacks from other regions. The federal government has said that the integration would create a strong and unified force in a country where divisions have resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths over the past 50 years. Analysts have called for more engagement between the federal government and regional leaders to resolve the situation in Amhara.
An explosion in Bahir Dar, the capital of Ethiopia's Amhara region, killed two people amid days of protests against the integration of local security forces into the national police and army. The protests were sparked by the government's order to disband and join the federal army or police. Banks, schools, and government offices were closed in another city in Amhara, Debre Birhan, on Tuesday, following days of protests in the area against the government's move. The World Food Programme has also suspended aid distribution in Amhara since Friday due to the protests.
Two aid workers with Catholic Relief Services were shot and killed in Ethiopia's Amhara region amid civil unrest triggered by the government's decision to disband regional special forces units. Protests and gun battles gripped several towns in Amhara over the weekend and in some places continued through Monday. The government imposed a curfew and shut off internet service in several areas. Amhara politicians and activists have condemned the government order that requires special forces from each of Ethiopia's 11 regions to integrate into the police or the federal army.
The Ethiopian government's plan to disarm regional forces has sparked protests and a deadly clash in the northern Amhara region. Some residents fear disarmament might force them to give up territory that Amhara now controls or leave them vulnerable to ethnic attacks. The confrontations come at a delicate time for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who has been struggling to contain growing ethnically based political movements that could threaten the integrity of Africa’s second-most-populous nation. The federal government announced last week that it would integrate regional forces into federal forces, which provoked a storm of protest in cities in Amhara.
Protests erupted in parts of Ethiopia's Amhara state over the government's decision to integrate regional armed forces into the federal military or police. Members of the Amhara regional forces fired their weapons into the air while large crowds demonstrated on Sunday.
Gunfire was heard in at least two towns in Ethiopia's Amhara region as thousands protested against a federal government order to integrate regional special forces into the police or national army. Members of Amhara's special forces and allied militias vowed to oppose the order, setting up a standoff with the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. The order applies to all of Ethiopia's 11 regions, which have their own regional armies and the right use their own language, but has been received particularly badly in Amhara, the second biggest, which has fallen out with Abiy recently.