"Three years after the end of the Tigray war, Ethiopia is grappling with a violent armed insurgency devastating the north-west of the country. The Fano, an ethno-nationalist militia composed mainly of former soldiers from the Ethiopian regional special forces, now control large areas of the Amhara region. Abuses committed by federal forces in an attempt to quell the insurgency are widespread: kidnappings, massacres, sexual violence, and attacks on humanitarian personnel."
"Northern Ethiopia is witnessing a sharp escalation in tensions, and the Pretoria Agreement, which ended the Tigray war (20202022), has never seemed more fragile. Addis Ababa has accused the Tigray People's Liberation Front of preparing a new war, possibly in coordination with Eritrea. The escalating war of words between the two countries over access to the Red Sea which the Ethiopian prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, has described as existential is fanning the flames of a large-scale conflict in the Horn of Africa."
"Landscapes in the Lasta mountains, in Ethiopia's Amhara region. This area spans a vast mountainous and hilly zone, bordering Tigray and Sudan. Its geography, typical of the Ethiopian highlands, offered a strategic position to the early kingdoms, making it the country's main political, economic, and religious centre for centuries. Two members of the Fano nationalist movement look out over the Amhara mountains, the birthplace of their movement."
An ethno-nationalist militia called the Fano controls large parts of Amhara and conducts operations across the north-west. Federal security operations have produced widespread abuses including kidnappings, massacres, sexual violence, and attacks on humanitarian personnel. More than two million people require urgent humanitarian assistance in Amhara, which also hosts refugees from the Sudan war. The Lasta mountains provide strategic terrain and historical significance for the movement. The term Fano echoes a 1930s volunteer force that opposed Italian occupation. The Pretoria Agreement ending the Tigray war appears fragile as Addis Ababa accuses the TPLF of preparing a new war, possibly with Eritrean coordination.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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