Early Warning Systems and Response Mechanisms for Countering Violent Extremism in Ethiopia
27 Pages Posted: 8 Jun 2023 Last revised: 19 Jan 2024
Date Written: May 26, 2022
Abstract
Ethiopia has faced terrorist threats by militant groups on different occasions. Most of the terrorist threats come from Al-Qaeda and its affiliates which include Somalia-based terrorist groups such as Al-Shabaab and the now defunct Al-Ittihad al-Islamiya. Recent reports also show a continued attempt by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) to wage attacks in Ethiopia. Moreover, some of the dissident home-grown armed groups including the Ogaden National Liberation Front (OLF) and Ginbot7 Movement for Unity and Democracy (Ginbot7) have been implicated in some of these attacks. All these groups, until very recently, had been proscribed as terrorist groups by the national parliament.
The government of Ethiopia has accused these groups for some of the terrorist attacks including those that happened over a decade ago in different regions of the country including the bombings at WabeShebelle Hotel in DireDawa. It should also be recalled that the high profile assassination attempt of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in 1995 in Addis Ababa was also committed by terrorist groups. Although some of the above incidents have been largely political in nature, violent religious extremism is a major factor in fuelling terrorist attacks. As the International Crisis Group observes, “Ethiopia provides a significant example of the struggle governments are undertaking to find and implement effective policy responses to faith-based violent extremism and sectarian conflict.” For many reasons, it provides a test case in combating extremism and radicalism in a multi-religious society that has strong commitments to its religious affiliation. For long, Ethiopia was ruled by strong monarchies that had Orthodox Christianity as the official religion of the state. The centuries of Orthodox Christianity as the state religion has created an uneasy relationship with the wider Muslim community which has been increasingly assertive in demanding fairness and equal treatment of religions by the state.
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation