Kalkidan Yibeltal
BBC News
Tensions are high in the northern Ethiopian region of Amhara as authorities launch a campaign to register all individual firearms in the region.
The move comes amid fears that new fighting could break out along disputed areas in western Tigray that are currently under control of Amhara forces.
It is not clear how many people carry unregistered weapons in Amhara, but northern Ethiopia’s bloody civil war - now in its 18th month - has prompted a surge in individual gun ownership.
Now, those armed in the region have four days to get legal documentation for their weapons.
Regional authorities say the move is aimed at tackling lawlessness.
However, critics see it as part of a wider effort to control a group of loosely connected informal armed groups known as the Fano.
The group is implicated in gross abuses by rights groups, but its supporters say it is being targeted because it is seen as a threat by the federal government in Addis Ababa.
Recent weeks have seen continued de-escalation between the government and Tigrayan forces and an increase in the amount of aid reaching to war-torn Tigray.
However, with Tigrayan demands to resume basic services like the internet and banking in the region still unmet, and territorial disputes between them and neighbouring Amhara still unaddressed, there is still a long way to go to end the war.
BBC News
Tensions are high in the northern Ethiopian region of Amhara as authorities launch a campaign to register all individual firearms in the region.
The move comes amid fears that new fighting could break out along disputed areas in western Tigray that are currently under control of Amhara forces.
It is not clear how many people carry unregistered weapons in Amhara, but northern Ethiopia’s bloody civil war - now in its 18th month - has prompted a surge in individual gun ownership.
Now, those armed in the region have four days to get legal documentation for their weapons.
Regional authorities say the move is aimed at tackling lawlessness.
However, critics see it as part of a wider effort to control a group of loosely connected informal armed groups known as the Fano.
The group is implicated in gross abuses by rights groups, but its supporters say it is being targeted because it is seen as a threat by the federal government in Addis Ababa.
Recent weeks have seen continued de-escalation between the government and Tigrayan forces and an increase in the amount of aid reaching to war-torn Tigray.
However, with Tigrayan demands to resume basic services like the internet and banking in the region still unmet, and territorial disputes between them and neighbouring Amhara still unaddressed, there is still a long way to go to end the war.
