Catalans trapped in the crossfire in Ethiopia for a week: "They need food and medicine"

BOBO-DIOULASSO (BURKINA FASO)"My sister, Núria, is stuck on the road between the cities of Gondar and Bahar Dar," explains Neus from Barcelona. Núria left for Ethiopia on a trip organized by the Barcelona-based agency Kananga at the end of July, but she has been stuck for six days. in the Amhara region (in the northwest of the country) due to the armed uprising of the Fano militia, which in just a few days has seized control of the entire region by force and rebelled against the army. "I've been communicating with my mother by text message for six days now, and they need food and medicine," Núria's daughter, Mar, also explained by phone.

This group of Spanish tourists, many of them from Catalonia, were traveling in a minibus with a driver and a tour guide. A total of 19 people who are now stranded on the side of the road, sleeping in a house and "caught in the crossfire," according to relatives, who cannot give the group's exact location. However, by Wednesday night, the Ethiopian army had already recaptured some towns in the area, and the situation seemed somewhat more hopeful.

"When they encountered the militias, they put stones under the van's tires and stopped them in the middle of the road," they explained. However, the Catalan Foreign Ministry clarifies that the village where the tourists are currently staying is not a combat zone. But to leave the village and the country, they would have to pass through crossfire between the militia and the Ethiopian army. Furthermore, the local population of the area where they are located sympathizes with the rebel militia.

Through their families, the stranded tourists complain that the agency is not providing them with information and is giving false information to the media, such as the claim that they are staying in a hotel. The Kananga agency, whose slogan is "Passport to Adventure," has issued a statement saying it is in contact with the Spanish Foreign Ministry to find a solution to the situation and that "under no circumstances was the trip organized through areas where there was any armed conflict or news of such conflict." Jonás Baños, director of the Kananga Agency, had also told EFE that they had "no warning that this could happen."

In addition to security risks and food shortages, one of the trapped women is taking Sintrom (an anticoagulant prescribed for chronic conditions), and they are worried she will run out of medication. They also report that they have run out of malaria medication because they expected to finish their journey last Saturday. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in daily contact with all of them and explains that at least one of them has requested psychological support if communications allow. The Ministry is also working with telephone companies to ensure they have uninterrupted internet access to maintain communication with family and authorities. Meanwhile, the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working to get them out of the area.

The Spanish Embassy in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, updated its travel recommendations for this East African country on August 2. The Amhara region, where this group of tourists is currently located, is considered a "high-risk" area and "to be avoided." According to a WhatsApp message sent by the Kananga news agency to their families, "the embassy says that neither the Red Cross nor the UN can access the area to search for the group at the moment, and it is recommended that they not leave."

A war zone

Ethiopia's parliament declared a state of emergency in the Amhara region (northwest of the country) on August 4 after the Fano militia gained control of the area. According to Reuters, fighting erupted when the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) launched an operation to expel Fano fighters from the city of Kobo. The president of the Amhara region, Yelikal Kefale, also issued an appeal for assistance in resolving the "escalating conflict."

Fano is a militia that had supported the army and the Amhara Special Force—a regional paramilitary force—during the civil conflict that began in November 2020 in the Tigray region, which borders Eritrea and Sudan, between regional authorities and the federal government. A ceasefire was declared and peace agreements were signed in Pretoria, South Africa, on November 3 of that year. Amnesty International denounced that Amhara security forces, militias, and authorities had launched a campaign of ethnic harassment in West Tigre. According to a United Nations report, at least 600,000 civilians have died during this war in just two years.