The murder of a security chief in a town in Amhara region, Ethiopia has led to raised tensions and a night-time curfew.
Since April 2023, the security situation in Amhara had gradually worsened, especially after the decision to disband the region’s paramilitary group was made.
Each of the Ethiopian states had always had their own respective special forces, but the government had moved to bring them all under the military and police.
This decision led to deadly anti-government protests that broke out in response in Amhara region.
This recent curfew was imposed in the town of Shewa Robit after the head of the local security department, Abdu Hussein, was gunned down by unknown assailants on Tuesday, July 4.
This is the third of such killing in as many days in Amhara. A police chief and security head in a different district had previously been shot dead.
The authorities in Shewa Robit, a town around 200km north-east of the country’s capital, Addis Ababa, have outlawed individual and vehicular movement 18:00 local time.
It is noteworthy to mention that the Amhara special forces had helped the Ethiopian army battle Tigrayan fighters who had instigated a rebellion in 2020 against Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government.
The conflict had eventually terminated in November 2022 with the signing of a peace accord.
