ADDIS ABABA (Halbeeg News) -Ethiopia’s government declared a six-month state of emergency on Friday in the country’s second-largest region, Amhara, following days of clashes between the military and local Fano militiamen, giving it powers to impose curfews, restrict movement and ban gatherings.
The fighting that broke out earlier this week has quickly become Ethiopia’s most serious security crisis since a two-year civil war in Tigray region, which neighbours Amhara, ended in November.
Amhara’s regional government requested additional help from federal authorities on Thursday to reimpose order.
“It was found necessary to declare a state of emergency as it had become difficult to control this outrageous activity based on the regular legal system,” Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office said in a statement.
The unrest is the latest spasm of violence to hit the country, the second most populous in Africa after Nigeria, since Abiy took office in 2018. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for his peacemaking efforts with Eritrea.
Friday’s order gave the government powers to impose curfews, restrict movement, ban the carrying of guns and other sharp objects, ban public gatherings, and to make arrests and conduct searches without warrants.
The government could also close or limit the movements of media outlets it deems to be operating contrary to the emergency orders, the Government Communication Service said in a posting on the messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
The orders applied to Amhara for now, but could be imposed in other areas if needed, the government said.
SOURED RELATIONS
Fano, a part-time militia that draws volunteers from the local population, was a key ally of the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) during the Tigray war.
But the relationship has soured, in part over recent efforts by federal authorities to weaken regional paramilitary groups. Some activists say this has left Amhara vulnerable to attack by neighbouring regions.
Two residents of Amhara’s second-biggest city, Gondar, said on Friday that intense fighting took place the previous day near the university.
“ENDF first controlled the university, but they were pushed back by Fano. They were trying to advance to the centre of the city, but they couldn’t,” said one resident.
The other, a local official, said the military had pulled back from the university but did not say why. Both asked not to be named for security reasons.
A Fano member, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the militiamen were trying to encircle Amhara’s capital Bahir Dar. He said they had captured Merawi, a town 30 km (18 miles) south of Bahir Dar.
Reuters
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