Relative calm as Ethiopia’s Amhara militias retreat

Local militias who have been fighting against government troops in Ethiopia’s turbu­lent Amhara region have retreated from some of the major cities.

Residents in the region’s two biggest cities, the capital, Bahir Dar, and the historic Gondar, told the BBC that relative calm had returned on Thursday morning after a week of violence.

A command post set up by the government to oversee a state of emergen­cy declared in the region in relation to the clashes has imposed a night-time cur­few in six cities and towns.

It’s also banned the carry­ing of weapons and public demonstrations.

According to residents in Bahir Dar, the relative calm has allowed burials of civil­ians killed in the violence to take place. —BBC