A soccer stadium built in Ethiopia as a symbol of hope for the country's sporting future has been transformed into a military base by the Ethiopian army, used to launch attacks against rebel militia. The stadium, located in the city of Woldia, has become a symbol of the ongoing conflict in the Amhara region.
Soldiers with the Ethiopian National Defence Force travel on a truck near Aykel, in the Amhara region, on Feb. 27.A 25,000-seat soccer stadium in northwestern Ethiopia, built seven years ago in a burst of optimism for the country’s sporting future, has been commandeered by the army as a site for long-range artillery guns that have killed and injured civilians across the region, an analysis of satellite imagery and witness testimony has revealed.
The deadly transformation of Woldia Stadium has become a symbol of the war consuming the Amhara region, pitting the army against a rebel militia known as the Fano – “volunteer fighters.” The rebels, who control much of Amhara’s rural territory, are one of several insurgencies threatening to split Ethiopia apart. More than a dozen residents in Woldia said the city’s stadium, located on the edge of town, has been converted into an Ethiopian army base where artillery guns indiscriminately fire at rebel-held villages many kilometres away. Eight residents said they’ve witnessed fire, smoke and flashes in the sky from the stadium, consistent with howitzer blasts. Other witnesses described deaths and horrific injuries – including leg amputations – inflicted on villagers by the artillery in recent weeks. An Ethiopian-born billionaire, Mohammed Al-Amoudi, spent US$22-million in 2017 to build the state-of-the-art stadium, complete with a track, basketball court, volleyball field, VIP lounge and Olympic-sized swimming pool. He envisioned a future of international sports events and tourism in his hometown, about 500 kilometres north of the capital, Addis Ababa. Three years after the stadium’s construction, northern Ethiopia erupted into war, first in the Tigray region, in 2020, and then in Amhara after a Tigrayan ceasefire was negotiated.After 20 months of fighting, the rebels are entrenched across rural districts, sometimes raiding towns, while federal soldiers are largely holed up in cities and launching attacks from ther
ETHIOPIA WAR CONFLICT ARMY REBELS
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