Catholic Relief Services (CRS) announced on Sunday that two of its workers were killed by gunshot in Ethiopia’s Amhara region, where considerable unrest has been caused by the central government’s decision to abolish regional special forces groups.
CRS head of communications Kim Pozniak stated on Monday that the incident occurred near the town of Kobo, where residents had reported hearing heavy artillery fire the day before. Pozniak did not say if the gunfire was connected to the rebellion.
“The circumstances surrounding the murder remain unknown,” according to CRS.
CRS security manager Chuol Tongyik and driver Amare Kindeya were murdered. According to the statement, they were heading from Amhara to Addis Ababa, the country’s capital.
“The degree of our shock and anguish is difficult to express, and we are grieved over this needless tragedy,” CRS’s national representative in Ethiopia, Zemede Zewdie, said in a statement.
The federal or Amhara regional administrations’ officials did not react swiftly to requests for comment.
Thousands have protested throughout Amhara since the federal government’s decree on Thursday, and residents reported gunfire in at least two towns on Sunday.
According to local locals, the youth allegedly blocked roads and torched tires in large rallies in the town of Dessie on Monday.
Amhara politicians and activists have spoken out against a government edict requiring the integration of special forces from Ethiopia’s 11 autonomous regions into the national police and military forces.
Many worry that if Amhara’s special forces are abolished, the territory would be vulnerable to attacks from its neighbors, such as Tigray, whose leaders just last month negotiated a peace agreement with the federal government, ending a two-year battle that killed tens of thousands.
Amhara forces supported the federal army in their struggle.
Ethiopia has a long history of interethnic conflict, and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has said that merging regional special forces is important to ensure the country’s national unity.
The Amhara regional government said Monday that it had barred protests in Gondar, the location of some of the largest demonstrations, limited the use of three-wheeled vehicles inside the city, and enforced the closure of bars by 9 p.m.
