By Staff Reporter
ADDIS ABABA – (BORKENA) – Ethiopian Airlines suspended domestic flight to the tourist destination, Lalibela Town, amidst a fighting held between the government security forces and Fano in North Wollo Zone of Amhara Region, employees of Lalibela Airport told Addis Maleda.
In a similar development, Addis Maleda has confirmed that there would be no flights to Gondar Town today as there has been a fight between the government security forces and Fano militants since yesterday. It was also confirmed that there was an exchange of fire today near Gondar AirPort.
Workers at Lalibela Airport said that the first of the two daily flights to Lalibela was made on the morning of Tuesday, 01 July 2023. The Fano militants who heard the rumour about the arrival of more forces of the federal army at the Airport, moved to the area and exchanged fire with members of the Federal Police who were on guard in the area.
Following this, the second flight, which was supposed to touch down at Lalibela Airport at 12:50 a.m., flew back without landing due to security concerns, according to sources of Addis Maleda.
The airport employees also said that in view of the security threat hovering in the area, the airport has moved various facilities to safer places.
The attempt made by Addis Maleda to get further pieces of information on the issue from the Ethiopian Airlines was not successful as the call made to the communications section of the company was not answered.
Head of Cultural and Tourism Office of Lalibela Town administration, Mandefro Tadesse said that the flight to Lalibela has been suspended. Although the tourism activity was improving after the recent bloody war in the north and the corona-19 epidemic, it has now gone out of service due to the war that erupted between government security forces and “Fano” militants, Mandefro told Addis Makeda.
The official said that it would take a long time to restore the tourism movement. “The current security problem has created a difficult situation for the people who have long been leading life on income generated from the tourism sector,” he said.
The fighting being undertaken between government security forces and Fano militants in different areas of the region has consumed people’s lives from the two rival sides including the innocent ones, Addis Maleda said.
The Defence Force announced in a statement it made on Tuesday 01 August 2023 that the action being taken against the anti-peace elements operating under the name of Fano in the Amhara Region would continue.
Chief Administrator of Amhara Region, Yilikal Kefale (PhD), also said in a statement he made yesterday that, “everybody with different views should put aside guns and return to peaceful dialogue through discussions in a civilised manner, with religious fathers, public representatives, youths and other section of the community at every level to solve the problem”.
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This is very sad news. It seems we don’t learn from others in our own country. Senseless violence and destruction have refused to let that gem of the colored go. They don’t seem ready to leave that country alone. Just imagine the inevitable if this spotty face-off gets out of hand into an all out region wide conflict. In previous similar conflict it took place in a region of a much smaller size. It is reported that close to a million citizens had perished in a region of less than 6.5 million people. The population in Amhara region is close to 30 million.
Take the casualty of a million in a region with 6.5 million people and extrapolate that in a region of close to 30 million. That is not something I want to dwell on it. For those of you who get high fanning the flames of war from your comfy homes here among our Diaspora, don’t think this is a laughing matter. It is not funny, okay! You must be ashamed of yourselves!!!
There is another one that has been raging in the western part of Oromia that has not been getting the attention of the West and its media. That one even worries me more. Even though we hear a lot of exaggerated ‘feats’ of so-called OLA what I’m getting from my relatives is the group is not a cohesive one. By one estimate there are at least 8 factions of armed vagabonds roaming that region. Each has its own sub leaders and operation style. Some of them are outright robbers and at will murderers. Their main source of revenue is ransom they are remunerated from those they kidnap. They are now confined in rural areas where law enforcement is thin. But it is a matter of time before they barge into large towns and cities. Then you will see the two backbones of the country, Amhara and Oromia region, going belly up at the same time. That is the dreaded scenario depriving me sleep for quite some time now. May Our Creator Save That Blessed Country; So that country which produced Bilal ibn Rabah and Mary Magdalene who saved both major religions of that country and the world Shall not perish.