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Tag: government forces

  • Conflicts still going on in Ethiopia’s northern Amhara region

    Conflicts still going on in Ethiopia’s northern Amhara region

    Local militias and government forces are reportedly still fighting in numerous locations of Ethiopia’s Amhara region.

    One of the largest cities in the area, Gondar, is experiencing clashes on its outskirts. Residents have reported to the BBC that transport services have been suspended and that there has been violent conflict near the airport.

    Mobile data connections have been discontinued in parts of the region’s major cities and villages, including the capital Bahir Dar, Amhara residents have verified to the BBC.

    On Wednesday, flights were cancelled due to militia control of the airport in Lalibela, the location of famous rock-hewn cathedrals.

    Images shared on social media depict demonstrators who back the Fano, a local militia, continuing to barricade highways with rocks and branches to obstruct army movements.

    A number of towns and small villages are allegedly under the gang’s control, according to media sources and individuals connected to the organisation. The statements have not been independently verified by the BBC.

    Prisons and police stations have reportedly been broken into in various locations, according to sources.

    Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen referred to the recent events as “alarming” in a message shared on social media.

    Since officials announced the disbandment of a state-backed paramilitary force, the area has experienced simmering tensions and intermittent skirmishes, with opponents of the decision claiming it would leave the area vulnerable to attacks.

  • Rebels claim capture of key town in eastern DR Congo

    Rebels claim capture of key town in eastern DR Congo

    Rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo claim to have taken the key town of Kitshanga after three days of intense clashes with government forces.

    The UN-sponsored local radio Okapi was among the first to report the fall of Kitshanga to the rebels.

    Images of hundreds of people fleeing the town have also been shared on social media.

    “Yes we now have Kitshanga and its neighbourhoods,” Willy Ngoma, a spokesman of the M23 rebels, told the BBC on Friday.

    The BBC has approached the military for a response.

    Local civil society groups and the UN forces in the country have condemned M23 military offensives which have forced more than 400,000 people to flee their homes.

    Congolese Senator Francine Muyumba has called on parliament to hold an extra-ordinary session because “the country is doing very badly”, she said on Twitter.

    A summit held in November in neighbouring Angola had asked the M23 rebels to cease hostilities and withdraw from areas it had captured.

    But the rebels said they find themselves “obliged to intervene to stop another genocide” against ethnic Tutsis living in DR Congo, according to a statement on Thursday evening.

    Kitshanga town lies in a strategic route between the region’s economic hubs of Goma and Butembo.

    For some years, the town was the stronghold and the headquarters of the infamous rebel leader Laurent Nkunda and his CNDP rebel group, which later became M23.

    Source: BBC