The Ethiopian government has said it intends to integrate all regional special forces either into the national army or the federal or regional police, a move likely to be perceived as an attempt to diminish the autonomy of individual regions. Hours before the announcement, local media from the Amhara region, Ethiopia’s second largest, reported clashes between national and regional forces brought about by a refusal among Amhara Special Forces’ units to surrender weapons as part of the integration process. Amhara forces backed Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s federal troops against rebellious forces in northern Tigray when conflict erupted there in 2020. In May 2022 the former commander of Amhara region’s forces, a prominent critic of Abiy’s, was arrested alongside local journalists. Three years earlier, an uprising led by a different dissident general killed the regional president and chief of army staff.

Source: Ethiopian News April 07, 2023 09:04 UTC