Amhara peace council has confirmed that no progress has been recorded in the efforts to end the armed conflict in the Amhara region between Fano militias and the Ethiopian security forces. Amhara Region Peace Council was formed last month. It consists of elders from religious institutions, civil society organizations, academics and other influential individuals in the Amhara region.
In July, the council announced that it had started talks with the Fano militant group and the government. The council has been attempting to get militants to bring together the different Fano militants scattered and prepare themselves for peace talks.
The chairman Yayehyirad Belete a month ago disclosed that the government of the Amhara region had accepted the peace call presented by the council and was ready for negotiations.
But yesterday the Peace Council said that no progress had been recorded in efforts to resolve the armed conflict in Amhara through dialogue. Lack of unity and central representative organization in Fano was mentioned as serious obstacles to start of talks by the council.
Fano groups are loosely organized with no central structure. Only on wereda and zonal level, they have managed to establish command structure. Since the formation of the peace council, no Fano group publicly announced its support for talks with government.
Ethiopian military has been conducting a military operation in the Amhara region against Fano militias since last year. The conflict began when the government tried to disarm and disband Fano militias and Amhara Special Forces.
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