By Oyintari Ben
Following days of fighting between the federal military and local militiamen, mobile internet service was down in some areas of Ethiopia’s Amhara region on Thursday, and flights to two cities were cancelled.
This week, a simmering dispute between the federal government and the Fano militia, partners throughout the two-year civil war in the nearby Tigray area that concluded last November has come to light.
According to a diplomatic source, the military’s effort to drive Fano rebels out of particular locations sparked the violence. Demeke Mekonnen, the deputy prime minister of Ethiopia, described the situation as “concerning” on Wednesday.
Three people in Gondar, Amhara’s second-largest city, and two in Bahir Dar, the nation’s capital, reported no access to mobile internet on Thursday. For reasons of safety, they chose not to give their names.
Over the past few years, authorities in Ethiopia have frequently cut internet access amid periods of violence and turmoil.
Requests for comment were not immediately answered by the federal government’s or the Amhara regional government’s spokespeople.
Flights from the nation’s capital Addis Ababa to Gondar and the holy town of Lalibela, where there has also been violence, have been halted, according to Ashenafi Zeray, a spokesperson for Ethiopian Airlines (ETHA.UL).
This week, fighting has broken out in a number of cities and villages. Conflicts erupted outside the city on Wednesday, according to a citizen of Gondar who works for the local government, and they persisted on Thursday.
Fano is a semi-official militia with no established chain of command. Its relationship with the federal government has deteriorated recently due to what some Amharans claim to be a disregard for the area’s security.
After Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered that security forces from Ethiopia’s 11 regions be incorporated into the police or national army, violent protests broke out in Amhara in April.
According to protesters, Amhara, Ethiopia’s second-largest area, was seen as being weakened by the decree. The federal administration rejected this and stated that maintaining national unity was the goal.
