Ethiopia forces deploy against Amhara rebels

ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopian army forces have deployed in large numbers in the past fortnight to Amhara state, scene of a year-long insurgency, a security source told AFP on Saturday.

The Fano, a long-standing “self-defence” militia for the Amhara ethnic group, the second largest in Ethiopia, took up arms against the federal government in April 2023 after it tried to disarm regional forces.

The government declared a state of emergency in Amhara, home to some 23 million people, in August 2023. While this expired in June, unrest has continued.

“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. On Tuesday, rights group Amnesty International said there had been “mass arbitrary detentions” in Amhara, with authorities arriving with a list of hundreds to arrest, including some members of the academic community.

“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. AFP was unable to independently verify the information, with the authorities severely

restricting access to the

region.