The blue skies over the city of Bahir Dar were covered in smokes on Monday,
on this deadly day of protest against TPLF oligarchy, as people in the
Amhara region of Gondar and Gojam intensified their defiance against the
Tigrayan minority rule. Trails of smokes were rising all day into the skies
of the city of Bahir Dar as protesters burnt tires on the streets and set
ablaze businesses affiliated with the regime as well as houses of officials
and spies of the regime.
Several towns and localities in the Amhara region were declared free of the
control of the TPLF regime and the people in these areas have established
their interim administration and security led by religious figures and
elders.
In Gondar, between Hamusit and Wereta, on a bridge called Gumara, 7 members
of the federal police and 4 farmers were killed in a gun battle on Monday.
Four people were also reportedly killed by regime forces in Simada.
The stay-at-home protest in Bahir Dar turned into a street protest when
regime forces attacked a group of vigilante youth who were raising funds
and helping the poor in the city. The residents then took to the streets
and burned tires and attacked businesses affiliated with the regime. At
least four people were shot and killed by regime forces in Bahir Dar on
Monday and several others were wounded.
Main roads connecting Bahir Dar, the political and business hub of northern
Ethiopia and the seat of the Amhara regional government, were closed on
Monday and gunfire could be heard all day, according to sources who spoke
to ESAT. High ranking officials of the region and their families flew to
Addis Ababa on Monday, according to a source who spoke to ESAT.
Details are scanty but in Tis Abay, in a place called Genji, 30 kms from
Bahir Dar, armed farmers have engaged regime forces in gun battle.
In Meshenti town, two horticultural farms were set on fire by protesters,
turning the flower fields into ashes. One person is feared dead in
Meshaenti in Monday’s protest. The town of Merawi declared itself free from
the TPLF rule as local officials and police have left the town. Protesters
burnt the houses of the officials and police as well as businesses
affiliated with the TPLF.
Similarily, in Dangla, protesters burnt houses and businesses belonging to
the local administrators and search by the protesters into the house of a
notorious police known for his cruelty found that he has hidden 50 quintals
of sugar, 50 containers of edible oil as well as 4 weapons. Residents set
the officer’s house and vehicle on fire. Also burnt to the ground was a
house belonging to a member of the TPLF who shot and injured several people.
In Gondar, Amba Giorgis, residents stopped a truck loaded with 500 cases of
beer, dump the beer and used the plastic cases to block the highway. Two
trucks carrying 32 cattle were also stopped at Amba Giorgis. The trucks
were let go after the residents confiscated the cattle. The beer and cattle
trucks were targeted by the protesters as the businesses belong to the
regime business empire.
In Belesa, armed farmers in 11 buses were heading to Maksegnit to back up
the residents of the town who were under attack by regime forces. A
standoff ensued and continued for hours on Monday when regime forces
stopped the buses.
North Gondar, South Gondar, West Gojam, Awi and East Gojam are areas in the
Amhara region that were freed from TPLF control over the weekend.
Protesters in theses towns and localities have replaced the regime flag
with the Ethiopian flag.
The regime meanwhile sent over 2000 Agazi Special Forces to the Amhara
region over the weekend to squash the ongoing protest. The people in the
Amhara region were alerted on the coming of the forces and they have
blocked main highways reaching several towns in the region.
What began few weeks ago as a protest against the forceful incorporation of
the people of Wolkait, Tegede and Telemt, and their land into the Tigray
region has now grown into a demand for the removal of the brutal regime in
Addis Ababa, where Tigrayans control every aspect of the lives of the
people. Protesters in Amhara and Oromo regions demand for the end of a
complete domination of the country by one ethnic group that represents only
5% of the population.
At least 700 people in the Oromo region and 200 in the Amhara have been
brutally murdered by TPLF forces.
Received on Tue Aug 30 2016 - 09:59:39 EDT