Amhara: Ethiopian Troops Accused of Killing Civilians

Image copyright: AMISON/Flickr [via Wikimedia Commons]

The Facts

  • Multiple witnesses have claimed that Ethiopian soldiers killed over 70 civilians and looted properties in Majete, a rural town in the northeastern Amhara region, since occupying it on Sept. 3.

  • The alleged atrocities occurred during house-to-house searches after the regional Fano militia reportedly attacked a position of the federal forces, prompting hours-long fighting between both sides.


The Spin

Narrative A

The Amhara people have long been treated as foreigners and national enemies. Still, the Abiy government has escalated this decades-long rhetoric to the next level by sanctioning widespread violence against them. If the international community fails to intervene, a Rwanda-style genocide may soon happen in Ethiopia.

Narrative B

While it's a matter of fact that innocent lives have been lost and properties destroyed and looted in clashes to liberate areas under the control of the non-state regional Fano militia and restore peace and order in Amhara, only an investigation per the constitutional system can determine who committed these atrocities.


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