Flights to Amhara are canceled due to conflict in Ethiopia

The final airport to be served in this area of northern Ethiopia that has been shaken by clashes between the federal army and local militias, Ethiopian Airlines on Tuesday canceled its scheduled flights from Wednesday to Friday to Bahir Dar, the capital of Amhara.

Since last week, the national company’s connections to the three other regional airports in Gondar, Lalibela, and Dessie have been discontinued.

Ethiopian Airlines, the only business that offers domestic connections to the general public, issued a press release saying, “Ethiopian Airlines wishes to inform its customers that the flights scheduled for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to Dessie, Gondar, Lalibela, and Bahir Dar have been cancelled.”

Amhara, Ethiopia’s second-most populous area and a place of intense warfare, received a state of emergency declaration from the federal government on Friday.

During this conflict between November 2020 and November 2022, Amhara forces, particularly the nationalist Fano militia, served as the government’s most important allies.

But since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed declared in April that he wants to abolish the “special forces,” paramilitary formations developed by numerous regional states over the previous fifteen years, tensions have grown. The government, according to Amhara nationalists, intends to weaken their region.

Since mid-July, clashes between the army and Fano fighters have grown more intense, prompting some international nations to advise staying away from the area.

Fire

A resident of Bahir Dar reported hearing artillery fire “non-stop around the roads of the airport” on Monday evening and into the night.

He emphasized that “people are not moving, there is no of movement” and said that on Tuesday morning, “there were gunshots around Lideta 14,” a neighborhood on the airport road.

A local of Gondar expressed his worry. “This place is in terrible shape. The artillery is in the city in addition to the gunfire, the tuktuk driver added, using only his first name, Simachew.

“The heavy sounds are just dreadful, and it’s incredibly scary even to stay inside. There was more fighting this morning (Tuesday), it feels like yesterday. I’m not sure how it will turn out, he continued.

Tuesday’s scenario in Lalibela, a popular tourist destination known for its rock-hewn churches that are protected as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, was “calmer” than Monday’s, according to a local. The city and the airport have been under the grip of Fano’s soldiers for several days.

The violence in the continent’s second-most populated nation “concerned” the United States, according to its statement.

So that it and its partners “can continue to work there,” the World Health Organization has urged for ensuring “uninterrupted access to and protection of the health system in Amhara.”