Residents of Amhara, Ethiopia, report mobile internet interruptions in the midst of combat
Residents of Amhara, Ethiopia, report mobile internet interruptions in the midst of combat
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Following days of skirmishes between the federal troops and local militiamen, five residents of Ethiopia’s Amhara region reported that mobile internet service was unavailable in several areas on Thursday.
This week, a simmering dispute between the federal government and the Fano militia, partners throughout the two-year civil war in the neighboring 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.
Three people in Gondar, Amhara’s second-largest city, and two people 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.
Wednesday’s statement by Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen that the situation in Amhara was “becoming concerning” was an unusual admission of an internal security problem by a top member of the federal administration.
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 is a disregard for the security of the area.
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.
Amhara, Ethiopia’s second-largest area, was seen as being weakened by the decree, according to protesters. The federal administration rejected this and stated that maintaining national unity was the goal.
