Africanews reported that armed groups formed by ethnic constituencies were spreading across Ethiopia and threatening Abiy Ahmed’s political and economic reforms. The June Amhara assault, linked by officials to then regional security chief Asaminew Tsige, put those local forces in the spotlight. Five senior officials died in the weekend attacks.
Reporters and analysts said rapid liberalisation had weakened old party controls while ethnic competition over land and power grew. Ethnic violence had already displaced millions. Regional security organs and informal fighters filled gaps left by a stretched national army.
The Africanews piece warned that reforms could stall if local gunmen kept deciding politics by force. It framed the Amhara crisis as a warning about arming regional loyalties faster than the state could regulate them. In Mereja’s wording, these are regional forces and local self-defense groups, not a single national army unit.
Sources: Africanews