Violent unrest is rising in Ethiopia’s Amhara region after attempt to disarm fighters, witnesses say

By CARA ANNA
Associated Press

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Witnesses say violent unrest is escalating in Ethiopia’s Amhara region as federal security forces clash with a local ethnic militia. The deputy prime minister in an unusually outspoken statement called the situation “increasingly grave.” Ethiopia’s second most populous region has been gripped by instability since April. That’s when federal authorities disarmed the Amhara regional force as part of the recovery from a two-year conflict in the neighboring Tigray region. Authorities last year also tried to dismantle the Amhara militia known as Fano. Many Amhara accuse the federal government of trying to undermine their region, which federal officials reject.