Mereja.Forum

[Revelations]

Local fighters from Amhara's Fano militia have taken control of three towns in the region, residents told AFP.

According to residents of Lalibela, a UNESCO World Heritage site famous for its 12th and 13th-century rock-cut churches, Fano fighters took over the town and its airport earlier this week.

Shops were open on Saturday but streets were largely deserted, Lalibela resident Aneley told AFP.

"Lalibela is calm, no fighting... (but) people's movement isn't like it used to be before," he said, adding that the town was suffering from intermittent power and internet outages.

The mood was similarly tense in the cities of Gondar and Dessie, locals told AFP.

"Things look calm but there is no activity... almost all shops, cafes are closed," said Simachew, a rickshaw driver in Gondar, which witnessed fighting on Thursday before federal troops retreated to its outskirts.

"People are indoors in their homes," he said, with Fano fighters blocking routes in and out of the city.

Amir, a businessman from Dessie, told AFP that there was "no fighting here", with Fano members in control of the city.

"Markets and shops are open but people here are... on alert."

Another Dessie resident, Mohammed, said internet was down but phone lines remained functional.

"We hope this (conflict) will come to an end soon," he told AFP.

An Amhara resident who fled the town of Kobo on Saturday said government security forces had "severely restricted" the movement of people.

Kobo "has been under a curfew for a while, with locals prohibited from moving around after dark", he told AFP, adding that access to internet and running water was blocked.

"Fighting has eased for now, but there is a high degree of tension and uncertainty."

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission on Friday said civilians had been attacked, with damage reported to property, while transport services and internet had been suspended in some areas of Amhara.

Web security firm Cloudflare told AFP they "saw (internet) traffic in Amhara drop around 18:00 UTC (GMT) on Wednesday".

National carrier Ethiopian Airlines has cancelled flights to Dessie, Lalibela and Gondar.

The United States has "expressed concern" about the violence, while Britain and Spain have both warned their citizens against travelling to parts of Amhara.

[Revelations]

[Revelations]

Two residents of Amhara’s second-biggest city, Gondar, told Rueters on Friday that intense fighting took place the previous day near the university.

Residents of Gondar, Amhara’s second-biggest city, told Reuters that intense fighting took place near the university on Friday. One resident said that the government forces had initially taken control of the university, but were pushed back by Fano.

The other resident, a local official, said that the military had pulled back from the university but did not say why. Both residents asked not to be named for security reasons.

A Fano member told Reuters that the militiamen were trying to encircle Bahir Dar, Amhara’s capital. He said that they had captured Merawi, a town 30 kilometers south of Bahir Dar.

The Fano and Amhara’s regional security forces played leading roles supporting the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) during the civil war with the neighbouring Tigray region.

In several Amhara towns, government officials have fled and the internet has been cut. Ethiopia’s Center for the Advancement of Rights and Democracy (CARD) has confirmed that the internet shutdown is happening in many localities of the region.

[Tiago]

NAIROBI, Kenya — Authorities in Ethiopia’s Amhara region on Thursday asked the federal government for help, as a local ethnic militia clashed with federal security forces, halting some flights to key cities and leading the deputy prime minister, in an unusually outspoken statement, to call the situation “increasingly grave.”.......

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/20 ... story.html

Ethiopia’s cabinet has agreed to declare a state of emergency in the restive Amhara region following days of clashes between local militias and the army.

The move comes a day after Amhara region’s head, Yilkal Kefale, called on the federal government to intervene, declaring security in the region had become “difficult to control within regular law enforcement mechanisms”.

Local militias, known as the Fano, have reportedly gained control of several towns and villages as well as some bigger cities.

Flights have been suspended to at least two cities in the region and the mobile data services have been cut off.

A statement published by the prime minister’s office said the constitutional order was under threat in the region, explaining the need for a state of emergency decree.

The decision still has to be approved by parliament to take effect.

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-afr ... type=share