Aid group says two workers shot dead in Ethiopia’s Amhara region
Catholic emergency services workers were killed during unrest following the government’s decision to disband regional security forces.
Two aid workers from Catholic Relief Services (CRS) have been killed in Ethiopia’s Amhara region, the charity said, amid civil unrest sparked by a decision by the federal government to disband regional special forces.
Chuol Tongyik, a security manager, and Amare Kindeya, a driver, were “shot and killed” on Sunday as they returned to the capital Addis Ababa from Amhara, CRS said in a statement Monday.
CRS director of communications Kim Pozniak said the incident took place in the town of Kobo, where residents reported heavy artillery fire between the federal army and Amhara regional forces on Sunday, but did not say whether the shootings were related to the unrest.
“The details of the murder are still unknown,” CRS said in a statement.
Protests and gunfights gripped several towns in Amhara over the weekend and continued through Monday in some places, residents said. The unrest came after the government announced its intention to disband federal states’ security forces, which they say pose a threat to the country’s security, and to “build a highly centralized army”.
“The depth of our shock and grief is difficult to measure and we are angry at this senseless violence,” said Zemede Zewdie, CRS country representative in Ethiopia. “CRS is a humanitarian organization dedicated to the most vulnerable people in Ethiopia.”
The Amhara regional government said on Monday it has banned protests in Gondar, where some of the largest demonstrations have taken place, imposed restrictions on the movement of three-wheeled vehicles there and ordered bars to close at 9pm.
Elsewhere in Amhara, protesters blocked roads and burned tires in the streets, paralyzing much of the region, Ethiopia’s second largest region. In response, the government imposed a curfew and shut down the internet in several areas.
Politicians and activists from Amhara have condemned the government’s order that special forces from each of Ethiopia’s 11 regions – which enjoy some degree of autonomy – be integrated into the police force or the federal army.
They say disbanding Amhara’s special forces would leave the region vulnerable to attack by neighboring regions, including Tigray, whose leaders agreed a ceasefire with the federal government in November to end a two-year war which killed tens of thousands of people.
Amhara troops fought alongside the federal army in that conflict.
Many Amharas feel betrayed by the federal government’s inability to prevent war from spreading to their region in 2021 and by the failure to stop attacks against ethnic Amharas by gunmen in Oromia, Ethiopia’s largest region. They say they will be left unprotected if their regional force is dismantled.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed says the integration of regional special forces is necessary to ensure national unity in a country with a long history of inter-ethnic conflict.
“Appropriate law enforcement action will be taken against those who deliberately play a destructive role,” he said.
The Constitution of Ethiopia gives federal states the right to command a police force to maintain law and order. However, several states have also built up strong regional security forces.