APA-Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) The Ethiopian government on Thursday shut down internet services in most parts of the Amhara region, APA can report.
Information reaching APA suggests that parts of Gojjam, Gondar, Wollo, Sekota and Shoa which cover a quarter of Ethiopian territory have been without internet since Wednesday afternoon.
Apart from the internet shutdown, the Ethiopian Airlines has suspended flights to tourist attractions sites in the region – namely Gondar and Lalibela.
The government introduced the latest internet blackout following the clash between the Ethiopian Defense Force and the Fano, youth freedom fighters, in the region in the past few days in many parts of the region.
The incessant killing and kidnappings of ethnic Amharas in the Oromo region of Ethiopia has apparently added impetus to the growing anti-government sentiment among Fano, and the resistance is increasingly taking the form of an armed struggle.
During the war between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and the Abiy Ahmed-led federal government, FANO forces were principal allies of the state and helped reverse TPLF’s advance to the capital Addis Ababa.
Although Defense Chief of Staff, Field Marshal Berhanu Jula, stated last month that there is no reason to fight against FANO, it is apparent that the federal government has deployed troops to the Amhara region with the aim to crush them militarily.
There are fears that Abiy Ahmed’s government, which seems to be building a new alliance with the TPLF, resorting to military action against FANO could result in an outright civil war.
Demeke Mekonen, the deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister, on Wednesday himself expressed his concerns about the situation in the Amhara region.
While admitting that there are many demands that are not addressed, he said that the beneficial approach to resolving it is peaceful dialogue.
MG/as/APA