ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has revealed that the government is engaged in negotiations with armed militias in the Amhara region to seek a peaceful resolution to the ongoing conflict. However, a key group, the Fano militia, denies any involvement in these discussions.
During a meeting with financial leaders in Addis Ababa on Friday, Prime Minister Abiy disclosed that efforts to reach out to the rebels have been underway for some time. He noted that a lack of unity among the armed groups is a significant obstacle. “It has been a while since we started talks with armed groups operating in the Amhara region,” he said in Amharic. “The problem so far is that there is no centralized group. When we reach an understanding with one group, we don’t agree with the other.”
Abiy emphasized the government’s attempts to bring the groups together to facilitate productive talks. “We have started talks with some of the groups; there are groups that have started continuous talks with the government,” he added. However, he did not provide specifics on which groups are involved or the timeline and format of these negotiations.
Contradicting the prime minister’s statement, Simeneh Mulatu, head of the foreign and diaspora affairs department for the Fano militias in Gojjam, told VOA that there have been no talks or negotiations initiated with the government. Fano is an ethnic Amhara militia with multiple factions operating across the region. Leaders of other Fano factions were not available for comment.
Additionally, Eyachew Teshale, an official from the Amhara region’s peace council, established in June, reported that they were not aware of any formal peace talks between the government and the Fano armed group.
The conflict between federal government forces and Fano erupted a year ago amid reports that the government planned to disarm regional paramilitary forces and integrate them into other security structures, including the federal army.
Last November, the Ethiopian government held discussions with the Oromo Liberation Army, a rebel group in the Oromiya region. Despite two rounds of talks in Tanzania, both parties failed to reach an agreement.
