At Least 183 People Killed in Ethiopia’s Amhara Region Unrest Since July: U.N.

The United Nations human rights office reports that clashes in Ethiopia’s Amhara region since July have resulted in the deaths of at least 183 people. The Amhara fighters are resisting the efforts of the federal government to disband them.

The U.N. office also states that the human rights situation in Ethiopia is deteriorating, with over 1,000 people reportedly arrested under a state of emergency declared earlier this month. Many of those detained are young people of Amhara ethnic origin suspected of supporting the Amhara militia known as Fano. House-to-house searches have been taking place, and three Ethiopian journalists covering the situation in the Amhara region have been detained.

The U.N. statement raises concerns about the treatment of detainees, as they have reportedly been held in improvised detention centers without basic amenities. The office calls for the release of those arbitrarily detained and for authorities to halt mass arrests.

Furthermore, the human rights office calls for an end to the fighting as the military retakes towns previously seized by Amhara fighters, leading militia members to flee into rural areas.

In one of the deadliest incidents, an airstrike on a crowded town square in the Finote Selam community killed at least 26 people. The federal government has not commented on this incident.

Amhara fighters had previously fought alongside the military in the two-year conflict in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, which ended in November with a peace agreement. The conflict spilled into the Amhara region when Tigray forces attempted to approach the capital, Addis Ababa.

Ethiopia’s government, led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, has been struggling for years to contain various conflicts along ethnic lines. The country, Africa’s second most populous, is considered a crucial security partner in the Horn of Africa. However, the government has faced criticism for limiting outside efforts, including those by U.N. investigators, to understand the extent of abuses in these conflicts.