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11-04-2023
TIGRAY: Huge protests have taken place in Ethiopia’s Amhara region for the fifth consecutive day against government moves to dissolve a paramilitary force.
Demonstrators blocked roads with rocks and burning tyres to prevent the military from travelling around.
Protesters fear that the government’s decision would leave them exposed to attacks by neighboring regions.
Ethiopia’s regional states have their own special forces to protect their borders, and to fight rebels.
The government announced last week that it wants the Special Forces to be integrated into the federal army or police force in order to promote national unity.
The decision has faced strong opposition in Amhara, with huge protests in cities and towns across the region.
It has led a partial curfew being imposed in the historic city of Gondar, while clashes have been reported between protesters and the military in Kobe town, near the border with the neighboring Tigray region.
On Sunday, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed vowed to press ahead with his plan even if “a price had to be paid”.
In the capital Addis Ababa, the arrest of Amhara-linked journalists, commentators and community organizers has intensified in recent days.
On Sunday, Meskerem Abera became the fourth media personality to be detained in less than a week.
The Amhara Special Forces helped the Ethiopian army fight Tigrayan forces who launched a rebellion in 2020 against Mr Abiy’s government.
The conflict ended with the signing of a peace accord last year between the federal government and Tigrayan forces.
Now tension is growing between the Amhara and federal authorities.
Some in Amhara say the federal government’s decision will prevent the region from providing armed resistance to any future threat.
They also doubt that the Tigrayan forces have fully disarmed, despite the peace accord requiring them to do so.
There have been historic tensions between the Amhara and Tigrayan ethnic groups, with the two often competing for power, land and resources.
Amharas gained control of agriculturally fertile land in Tigray in the recent war.
Both claim that the land historically belonged to them, and the dispute has not yet been resolved. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
