Ethiopia Extends State of Emergency in Amhara to respond to insurgency

Ethiopia’s parliament on Friday declared a four month of state of emergency to tackle the growing insurgency problems within its territory. The parliament, in an official statement, said that the emergency was declared to respond to the militia insurgency in the northern region of Amhara. 

Hundreds of deaths and the human rights issues have been witnessed by Ethiopia since fighting erupted, last July, between the country’s armed forces and the insurgents. The ethnic Amraha militia and the government forces have been fighting in the historic city of Gondar and other areas that has plunged the country into chaos despite that an agreement was inked to end the war in Tigray.

The government of Ethiopia declared an emergency to be able to impose curfews, restrict people's movement and ban public gatherings, according to reports. The armed fires of Ethiopia have been trying to root out the Fano forces out of the city but the fighting has since flared in the rural areas. Fano, in turn, accused the Ethiopian forces of undermining the region's security.

Fears of another war?

In his analysis in The Conversationist, the author of the book Ethiopia’s Ethnic Federalism had warned that a lasting solution for peace must be found soon. “Fears of another war that could match or even eclipse what happened in Tigray are not misplaced if a solution is not found,” analyst Yohannes Gedamu was quoted as saying.

The emergency was declared once again earlier today by the Ethiopian parliament on request of the lawmakers and justice minister. The conflict has erupted in just less than a year since the then Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government inked the deal for ceasefire to end the two year long civil war in Tigray that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives in the conflict in November 2022. 

The Fano forces previously fought alongside the Ethiopia army against the Tigray forces but the ties between the two groups deteriorated after the militiamen accused the Ethiopia government of failing to address the security situation in neighbouring Oromiya, a claim that is denied by the Ethiopian government.