As the fight against Insurgency continues, the Ethiopian Army has deployed heavily to Amhara state, AFP reports.
The Fano, a long-standing “self-defence” militia for the Amhara ethnic group, which is the second largest in Ethiopia, engaged in armed conflict with the government in April 2023 when the government attempted to disarm regional forces.
In August 2023, the Ethiopian government declared a state of emergency in Amhara, home to 23 million people. Despite the move, the state remained in turmoil while the SOE expired.
“Over the past two weeks, there have been numerous reinforcements (of the federal army) and many arrests of officials suspected of collusion with the Fano,” a security source, who spoke on condition of
anonymity told AFP.
According to rights group, Amnesty International, there had been mass arbitrary detentions in Amhara.
On Tuesday, rights group Amnesty International said there had been “mass arbitrary detentions” in Amhara. Authorities came with a list of hundreds of people to arrest, including some academic community members.
“The Ethiopian army and police’s ongoing campaign of arbitrary mass detentions in Amhara region is yet more evidence of the government’s total disregard for the rule of law,” said Amnesty regional director Tigere Chagutah.
The information has yet to be independently verified by the AFP because authorities have heavily restricted access to the region.
Clashes between federal forces and the Fano militia reportedly occurred on 17 September in Debark, a town in Amhara around 750 km (460 miles) north of Addis Ababa, resulting in at least nine deaths, mostly civilians.
The Fano, a loosely organised militia with no clear central command, has intensified its attacks on federal forces over the past year, at times briefly seizing control of towns and cities.
The Fano and many Amharans fought alongside federal troops during the brutal civil war against rebels in the neighbouring Tigray region between 2020 and 2022.
Amharans had long hoped to gain control of disputed land in Tigray, but many felt betrayed when this aspiration failed to materialise in the peace deal signed between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the Tigrayan forces in November 2022.