Date: Thursday, 10 August 2023
Tensions between local militiamen and federal forces sparked Ethiopia’s most serious security crisis since the two-year civil war in Tigray.
Fierce fighting broke out last week in Ethiopia’s northern Amhara region, just nine months after the end of a devastating two-year war in the neighbouring Tigray region.
Tensions have been rising since April, when the federal government announced it was dismantling regional forces across Ethiopia, triggering protests by Amhara nationalists who said the move would weaken their region.
After days of fighting between the army and militia fighters, the Ethiopian government said on Wednesday that major cities in the Amhara region had been “freed” from local militiamen.
There have been no official casualty figures from the unrest, but hospital doctors reported many civilians having been killed or injured.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government last week declared a six-month state of emergency in Amhara and announced curfews in six cities.
As the unrest continues, here is what you need to know: