Ethiopia claims that militia seeks to topple the government

Armed gangs are reportedly taking over towns and entire districts and releasing “criminals” from prison, according to the nation’s chief of intelligence.

After days of combat, Temesgen Tiruneh, director general of Ethiopia’s National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), declared on Sunday that militants in the Amhara area of the country are attempting to overthrow both the regional and federal governments.

Following days of fierce fighting between the Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) and the ethnic militia Fano fighters, authorities on Friday proclaimed a six-month state of emergency.

Last week, a doctor in Debre Tabor reported to the media that during the conflict, more than a dozen citizens had been hurt by gunfire and heavy weaponry.

Following Fano rebels taking possession of an airport in Lalibela, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, flights were reportedly cancelled on Tuesday.

Gondar residents told the media that they heard heavy weapon fire into the early hours of Monday. Gondar is Amhara’s second-largest city.

Armed groups have gained control of various districts and towns in the area, according to Director-General Tiruneh, who is in charge of enforcing the state of emergency in Amhara.

Additionally, he stated that militants who he referred to as “robbery forces” had in some locations released prisoners from prison and were working to “dismantle the regional state government.”

During the two-year civil war in the nearby Tigray province, the Amhara Fano militia supported the ENDF.

Since April, when authorities started making attempts to demobilise and incorporate fighters from all eleven regions, including the Fano, into the federal military or police, the area has been plagued by insecurity.

The Amhara region, according to the protesters, would therefore be open to attack from other regions as a result of the government’s intention to abolish non-state security forces.

The head of the country’s ruling Prosperity Party, Girma Yeshitila, who had persistently defended the government’s decision to reorganise regional forces, was assassinated as a result of the escalating regional security situation.