What a massacre reveals about Abiy Ahmed’s Ethiopia
What a massacre reveals about Abiy Ahmed’s Ethiopia The killing of civilians is part of a disturbing pattern Photograph: Getty Images May 29th 2025 | Nairobi T wo months ago, in the early afternoon of March 31st, gunfire erupted in Birakat, a town in the Amhara region of northern Ethiopia (see map). Panicked residents ran for cover as the Ethiopian army battled local militias. Five hours later the guns fell silent, briefly. But after the army had taken control of the town, according to three eyewitnesses, a massacre began. https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2025/05/29/what-a-massacre-reveals-about-abiy-ahmeds-ethiopia