Residents of the Ethiopian city of Debrebirhan have told the media that at least two civilians who had sought refuge in a displacement camp have died during clashes there as protests in the nation’s Amhara region grow more violent.
Last week, when Ethiopia’s federal government announced a proposal to disband the Amhara region’s special forces, protests broke out. Locals worry that the change may leave the area vulnerable to attacks.
The revisions are one of the conditions of a peace agreement that the federal government and former rebels from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) agreed last November to put an end to the war.
Residents have told the BBC that Tuesday’s clashes between federal security forces and local militias in Debrebirhan, 130 km north of the capital, Addis Ababa, stayed for hours.
According to one resident, the two individuals killed were sheltered in a camp in the city after fleeing ethnic-based violence in the country’s western Oromia region.
Another resident said protesters raided a police department in the city, vowing to free people detained in connection with a massive anti-government rally on Sunday.
There have been eight different statements from federal and regional authorities since protests began in which they argued the integration of the special forces into the national army or police will strengthen the country’s security apparatus, but the protests have continued.
The unrest was reported in the Amhara capital, Bahirdar, on Tuesday.
In the latest statement, the head of the ruling Prosperity Party’s regional branch blamed the violence on “failure to create awareness”, and said the government was ready to resolve any issues through dialogue.