A senior government official reported on Tuesday that the ongoing conflict in Ethiopia’s Amhara region, which has been ravaged by war, has severely strained its healthcare system.
The violence erupted in April 2023 in this northern region, which is inhabited by 23 million residents, as federal forces clashed with the Fano militia, known for its self-defense operations.
Despite the conclusion of a state of emergency in June 2024, instability persists, prompting the deployment of a significant number of federal troops in September.
“The impact of this conflict on health and humanitarian services has been catastrophic,” the state minister of health, Ayele Teshome, told a press conference in the capital Addis Ababa.
Access to critical services has “deteriorated significantly,” he warned, adding that marginalised people in remote and rural areas were bearing the brunt.
“We are witnessing alarming rates of acute malnutrition, particularly among children and vulnerable women,” Ayele said, appealing for international help.
Humanitarian access has been complicated by the security situation, particularly frequent kidnappings for ransom.
At least eight aid workers were killed in Ethiopia, six of them in Amhara, between January and August 2024, according to the UN’s humanitarian agency OCHA.
Fano took up arms against the state after the federal government tried to disarm regional forces.
The unrest came just months after a peace agreement was signed in November 2022 to end a devastating two-year conflict in the neighbouring region of Tigray.
Amhara forces and the Fano felt betrayed by the peace deal, having supported Ethiopian troops in Tigray, with which they have a history of land disputes.
The United States this month voiced concern about the growing violence in Amhara and urged negotiations.
Source; AFP
Expect more suffering and calamities coming to that region. There are millions going hungry now already and all what it will take is a single 2-yr consecutive drought for thousands to die from famine. Even if that will not happen and the rains keep coming, their malnutrition body will be exposed to easily avoidable diseases like malaria, cholera and a host of other maladies. Stupid wars like this are never known to bring well-being to citizens. Death and destruction are on the menu of deadly and senseless conflicts. The primary victim is the gullible youth. His schools are forcibly shuttered or torched to the ground. His playgrounds are turned into recruiting offices for the bigots and connivers roaming the wilderness and the despots in towns. His former friends from childhood are on the opposite side ready to drop on him with their deadly AK47’s. Ain’t a living for the youth in Amhara and Oromia regions. Woe, woe, woe, woe!!!