The government of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed declared a state of emergency today, Friday, amid ongoing clashes for days in the Amhara region between the army and local Fano militia. This wave is the latest in a series of unrest that has shaken Ethiopia since Abiy came to power in 2018, amidst his promises to bring openness to one of the most closed political and economic systems in Africa. Below is a timeline of events that occurred over the past five years:
* April 2018 - Abiy took office as Prime Minister and quickly received praise domestically and internationally for releasing political prisoners and pledging to liberalize the economy.
* July 2018 - Ethiopia and Eritrea, which fought a border war from 1998 to 2000, officially ended two decades of hostilities by signing a peace agreement.
* August 2018 - The Ethiopian government signed a peace agreement with the Oromo Liberation Front, which had been fighting since the 1970s for self-determination in Oromia, Ethiopia's largest region.
* June 2019 - The federal government thwarted a coup attempt by a rogue militia allegedly backed by the state against the Amhara regional administration, resulting in dozens of casualties.
* October 2019 - Abiy was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in making peace with Eritrea.
* June and July 2020 - Dozens were killed during violent protests that erupted in Addis Ababa and Oromia following the murder of a popular singer.
* November 2020 - War broke out in the Tigray region in the north after armed fighters loyal to the ruling party attacked military bases in what they described as a preemptive strike.
* April 2021 - Clashes erupted between Ethiopia's two largest ethnic groups, the Oromo and the Amhara, in Amhara, with officials estimating the death toll at 200.
* June 2022 - In one of the deadliest attacks on civilians in Ethiopia in years, armed assailants in Oromia killed around 340 civilians. Residents stated that the victims were of Amhara ethnicity, while the Prime Minister's spokesperson claimed they were from Oromo, Amhara, and Gumuz.
* November 2022 - The federal government and local forces in Tigray agreed to cease hostilities after a two-year war that claimed thousands of lives, displaced millions, and left hundreds of thousands in dire famine.
* April 2023 - The federal government ordered the integration of all regional security forces either into the military or the national police, provoking a week-long violent protest in the Amhara region.
* August 2023 - Fighting broke out between the army and local Fano militia in Amhara, quickly escalating into the most severe security crisis Ethiopia has faced since the end of the Tigray war.
