A widening rift between Amhara regional special forces and Ethiopia's central government threatens to destabilize the tenuous peace in the north and pose long-term political risks to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's mandate. Protests and gunfire broke out in Ethiopia's Amhara region on April 9 against a federal government order to dissolve regional special forces and integrate them into the national army. The following day, an explosion in Bahir Dar, the capital of the Amhara region, killed two people, although the cause of the explosion is unknown and it is not clear if it was connected to the protests. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced on April 8 that the government will implement its plan to dissolve and reintegrate regional special forces into other federal security structures "even if there is a price to be paid," and he said the government will take "appropriate law enforcement measures on those who are...
