Following the spread of anti-government protests across Ethiopia’s Amhara region, authorities in two cities have imposed night-time curfews on Monday.
Dessie and Debrebirhan cities followed another city, the historic Gondar, in placing the restrictions.
The Gonder city administration command post said in a press statement, the use of auto-rickshaws is prohibited from operating outside of the period from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Also, bars and nightclubs are prohibited from remaining open beyond 9 p.m.
The curfew was imposed amid ongoing demonstrations which started last week in cities across the Amhara region against a federal government plan to “disarm the region’s special forces.”
The Ethiopian government plans to incorporate special forces in the country’s 11 regional states into other regional security structures with the aim to form a strong and united security structure, said Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in a statement posted on his social media account on Sunday.
The curfew order also prohibited anyone outside authorised security forces structures from moving around with firearms as well as moving around with crude sharp objects.