It’s probable that the Ethiopian government’s stated intention to incorporate all regional special forces into the national army or the federal or regional police would be interpreted as an attempt to limit regional autonomy. Each of Ethiopia’s ten regions has some freedoms at the moment, such as maintaining its own army and speaking its own language. In a statement released on Thursday, the administration stated, “The government has established a path to develop one powerful and centralized army… it has initiated real procedures that will allow special forces of every area to be incorporated into multiple security formations.”
The Amhara region is the second biggest in Ethiopia, and hours before the declaration, local media there reported skirmishes between national and regional troops due to a refusal of Amhara Special Forces’ units to surrender firearms as part of the integration process. Gizachew Muluneh, the official spokesperson for the Amhara people, did not immediately return our calls seeking comment. The administration acknowledged tensions had developed in Amhara, but in its statement it placed the responsibility on misinterpretation of the strategy and on extremist elements within the regional force. In 2020, when fighting broke out in northern Tigray, Amhara soldiers sided with the federal troops of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed against the insurgent rebels. The region has seen similar outbreaks of violence before.
Local journalists and the previous military commander of the Amhara area, a vocal opponent of Abiy’s, were detained in May 2022. A separate dissident general launched an insurrection three years prior, which resulted in the deaths of the regional president and chief of army staff. Abiy, who came to office as a reformer in 2018 and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, has been accused by his detractors of suppressing political opposition in Ethiopia. He claims responsibility for maintaining peace and security in the multicultural country.
