The Ethiopian army pushes back militiamen in two towns in Amhara

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – The Ethiopian army has expelled local militants from two towns in the Amhara region, residents said on Wednesday, the first major breach in the battlefield since fighting broke out last week.

On Tuesday, residents said the Ethiopian National Defense Forces took control of central Gondar, the second largest city in Amhara, and entered the holy city of Lalibela on Wednesday after the militiamen left.

Meanwhile, Ethiopian Airlines (ETHA.UL) announced that flights to Gondar and the Amhara capital, Bahir Dar – where fighting also took place – will resume on Thursday.

Gondar and Lalibela were among the towns where the Ethiopian Defense Force was taken over by Fanu militia last week in Ethiopia’s most serious security crisis since the two-year civil war in the northern region of Tigray ended last November.

The part-time militia recruits volunteers from the local Amhara population. It was an ally of the ENDF during the Tigray War but the relationship later deteriorated over accusations that the federal government was trying to weaken Amhara’s defenses against neighboring regions, which the government denies.

The government of Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous country and one of its largest economies, declared a state of emergency on Friday and rushed soldiers to the front lines.

Spokesmen for the government and the military did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.

In a statement, the government said an evening curfew had been imposed on Gondar, Lalibela and four other regions until August 23, as well as a ban on public meetings, marches and similar activities in Amhara without state permission.

A member of the Fano militia from Gondar told Reuters that the National Defense Force, backed by riot police and pro-government militia, drove the Fano fighters out of the city on Tuesday.

“It was fierce fighting. The National Defense Forces were using tanks. Our fighters were only using Kalashnikovs,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

A local official in Gondar said the army was “almost completely in control of the city”. Another resident of Gondar said he saw the army enter the city center on Tuesday afternoon.

Two residents of Lalibela told Reuters that the Ethiopian National Defense Forces entered the town on Wednesday morning after heavy fighting on the outskirts of Lalibela the day before.

Two Bahir Dar residents said calm returned on Wednesday after several days of fighting.

The Amhara regional administration said in a statement posted on Facebook on Tuesday that Gondar and the region’s capital, Bahir Dar, had been “released” from Fanu, but the statement was no longer available on Wednesday.

A spokesman for the regional administration did not respond to a request for comment.

There was little information from Amhara on casualties in the fighting so far, but residents of Lalibela told Reuters on Tuesday that more than a dozen fighters had been killed in the previous days.

Written by Aaron Ross, Editing by William McLean, Peter Graff and Angus McSwan

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