New data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) show that Amhara again recorded the highest level of political violence in July, continuing a pattern that has persisted since the end of the large-scale fighting in Tigray. ACLED’s regional reporting identifies Amhara as the country’s most affected region in recent monthly tallies, underlining that the northwestern region remains the epicenter of Ethiopia’s current internal fighting.
ACLED and other monitors say the violence in Amhara is no short-lived spike but a sustained campaign of clashes, reprisals and attacks involving federal forces and a patchwork of Amhara militia elements — most prominently factions associated with the Fano movement. Analysts say neither the federal government nor many of the armed groups have shown sustained willingness to halt hostilities, leaving the conflict decentralized and prolonged.
An ACLED situation update earlier this year highlighted a sharp feature of the fighting: the extensive use of air and drone strikes in Amhara. ACLED records more than 70 reported air- and drone strikes in the Amhara region since strikes were first reported there in August 2023 — the period when the current Amhara conflict escalated — a pattern that observers say has intensified civilian harm and deepened insecurity across large parts of the region.
Human-rights groups and media investigations say many of those strikes have been carried out by federal forces and that the strikes, alongside ground operations, have contributed to grave abuses and civilian suffering. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have documented repeated attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in Amhara, including health facilities and reports of summary killings, and have urged independent investigation and accountability. Humanitarian and rights monitors warn that the combination of airstrikes, ground clashes and reprisals has driven large-scale displacement and disrupted schools, health care and markets.
The combined picture offered by ACLED’s event counts and human-rights reporting points to a conflict that has become routinized: federal security operations that rely on aerial firepower, and armed local groups that continue to contest control on the ground. Observers say tactical military operations have so far failed to produce durable security gains and that the frequent use of drones and airstrikes — the most sustained use of aerial force in the country since August 2023 — has made the conflict deadlier and harder to resolve.
The humanitarian consequences are mounting. International agencies and country-level reports say thousands have been displaced and that education and health services have been disrupted in large parts of Amhara; rights monitors have called for independent investigation into alleged abuses and for measures to protect civilians. Analysts and aid officials say a political track — credible ceasefire mechanisms, accountability measures, and inclusive dialogue — will be essential to end the cycle of violence that ACLED’s data continue to map.
