The Ethiopian government reportedly launched a massive crackdown in Addis Ababa targeting ethnic Amhara in Addis Ababa.
According to Ethiopian Media Services (EMS), Diaspora Ethiopian News Provider , said it has received information from different sources that Police undertook arrests in many parts of Addis Ababa on Friday evening. The arrest was made in the streets and from house to house searches.
The government resorted to the action following a shootout with three fano leaders in the Bole area of Addis Ababa who were later reportedly taking their own lives.
What is alarming about the new arrest – based on other local news sources – is that there were cases where neighbors reportedly tipped police about their neighbors based on their ethnic identity. If true, this may represent a lethal combination with the existing ethnic-based political ideology.
There was a reported mass arrest in Nazret (Adama) – which is about 100 kilometers to the southeast of the capital Addis Ababa – on the same day. Hundreds and thousands were taken from the streets.
EMS also reported that there was a meeting of security officers from the Oromia region and Federal Intelligence officials at the Elele Hotel in Addis Ababa. It cited sources from within the intelligence department to report that the meeting was about Fano operations in Addis Ababa. The officials believed that a strong cell was operating in Addis Ababa to lay down a structure in the city. It is indicated that there are forces who entered the capital to undertake the work and that unspecified Senior Defense Force commanders were allegedly involved in facilitating their entry into the city.
As well, the security officials reportedly expressed a belief that there was an attempt to establish contact with a group that calls itself “Oromo Liberation Army.” But this is unverified from other sources. This past Tuesday Battee Urgessa, Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) senior political officer, was killed in Meki town after he was taken from a hotel where he was staying and his body was found near a dumping area about two kilometers from the town. While family members of the slain politician tend to see the government as responsible for it, Oromia region authorities denied it.
