Two Relief Services workers shot dead in Ethiopia’s Amhara region, Aid group says

                                                                Amhara special force members.

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) said that two of its humanitarian workers were killed in Ethiopia's Amhara region as a result of civil unrest brought on by the federal government's decision to dismantle local Special Forces units.

A security manager named Chuol Tongyik and a driver named Amare Kindeya were "shot and killed" on Sunday as they travelled from Amhara to the nation's capital, Addis Ababa, according to a statement released by CRS on Monday.

The event took place in the town of Kobo, where locals reported Sunday's intense artillery bombardment between the federal troops and Amhara regional forces. CRS Director of Communications Kim Pozniak would not specify whether the gunshots were connected to the turmoil.

“Details of the murder are still unknown,” CRS said in a statement.

 

Protests and gun battles gripped several towns in Amhara over the weekend and in some places continued through Monday, according to residents. The unrest came after the government announced its intention to dissolve the federal states’ security forces it said pose a threat to the country’s security and to “build a strong centralised army”.

 

“The depth of our shock and sorrow is difficult to measure and we are angered over this senseless violence,” said Zemede Zewdie, CRS country representative in Ethiopia. “CRS is a humanitarian agency dedicated to serving the most vulnerable people in Ethiopia.”

 

Amhara’s regional government said on Monday that it had banned protests in Gondar, which has seen some of the largest demonstrations, imposed restrictions on the circulation of three-wheeled vehicles there and ordered bars to close by 9pm.

 

Elsewhere in Amhara, demonstrators blocked roads and burned tyres in the streets, paralysing much of the region, Ethiopia’s second largest. In response, the government imposed a curfew and shut off internet service in several areas.

 

Amhara politicians and activists have condemned the government order that requires Special Forces from each of Ethiopia’s 11 regions – which enjoy a degree of autonomy – to integrate into the police or the federal army.

 

They say disbanding Amhara’s special forces would leave the region vulnerable to attacks by neighbouring regions, including Tigray, whose leaders agreed to a truce with the federal government in November to end a two-year war that killed tens of thousands.

In that battle, armed Amhara forces fought with the federal army.

Many Amharas feel misled by the federal government's failure to stop attacks against ethnic Amharas by armed men in Oromia, Ethiopia's largest region, and its inability to stop the war from spreading into their territory in 2021. They claim that if their regional force is disbanded, they will be left defenceless.

 

In a nation with a long history of interethnic strife, according to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the unification of the regional Special Forces is necessary to ensure national unity.

 

Those who purposefully play a disruptive role will be subject to the appropriate law enforcement actions, he warned.

Ethiopia’s constitution gives federal states the right to run a police force to maintain law and order. However, several states have also built up powerful regional security forces.