The United States said Friday that it was deeply concerned by reports of “targeted civilian killings” in a northern Ethiopian town, urging the authorities to allow human rights monitors into the region.
The reported killings in the town of Merawi in the Amhara region follow months of clashes last year between Ethiopia’s military and an ethnic Amhara “self-defence” militia known as Fano.
The fighting prompted the federal government to impose a state of emergency in August that was extended by four months by lawmakers last week.
Details about the alleged killings in Mera wi are scarce but local media said dozens of civilians were killed by government forces conducting door-to-door searches for Fano supporters.
Media access to northern Ethiopia is heavily restricted by the authorities, making it impossible to verify the situation on the ground.
On Friday, the US embassy in Addis Ababa released a statement on X, formerly Twitter, from the ambassador, Ervin Massinga, saying: “The US government is deeply concerned by reports of targeted civilian killings in the town of Merawi in Amhara regional state.
“We call for unfettered access by independent human rights monitors as well as an impartial investigation to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice.”
The statement also drew attention to “numerous disturbing reports of other violations and abuses… elsewhere in Ethiopia, reports which implicate government and non-state actors alike,” urging all sides to enter into dialogue.
Contacted by AFP, the federal government communications service declined to comment on the matter.
Ethiopia’s human rights body, which has previously sounded the alarm about abuses in Amhara, told AFP on Friday that it was “still investigating the issue”.
“At this stage of the process, we do not have additional details available for disclosure,” the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said.
The Amhara violence reignited concerns about the stability of Ethiopia months after a peace agreement was signed in November 2022 to end a two-year conflict in the neighbouring region of Tigray.
Amhara regional forces fought alongside federal government troops against Tigrayan rebels, and the peace deal fuelled a sense of betrayal among the Amhara, with the two regions sharing a history of land disputes.
Tensions escalated in April last year when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government decided to dismantle regional forces across the country which triggered protests among Amhara nationalists who said it would weaken their region.
In September, the EHRC accused federal government forces of carrying out extra-judicial killings in Amhara, and mass arbitrary detentions in the region and elsewhere.