Displaying items by tag: army struggles

Women and girls in Ethiopia’s Amhara region are facing a hidden crisis of conflict-related sexual violence as fighting between the national army and Fano militias continues. Survivors describe soldiers entering homes, threatening family members, and committing rape as a weapon of intimidation and punishment. Many victims, some as young as eight, are left in physical pain, psychological trauma, and deep shame, fearing stigma from their communities and even from their churches. Limited medical access means many do not receive the urgent treatment which could prevent HIV or pregnancy. Health workers report rising cases, but say that the numbers available represent only a fraction of the suffering, especially as law and order has broken down and accountability is rare. Rights groups warn that the violence reflects a pattern of impunity within Ethiopia’s security forces. For women like Enat, who is now raising a child conceived by rape, survival is overshadowed by fear, loss, and an uncertain future - yet also remarkable courage.

Since the military junta seized power in Myanmar in February's coup, violent resistance against the regime has been intensifying. Young people across the country have begun taking up arms to join the fight against their own army. Some of them have been getting military training from the separatist Karen National Defence Organisation, which operates near the Thai border. Myanmar’s military launched air strikes on a village and outpost near the Thai border in April. Thailand will provide humanitarian aid but stressed it is not taking a side in the conflict. The Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) are one of the biggest adversaries of Myanmar's military. Myanmar soldiers have murdered, burnt villages, forced labour, tortured and systematically raped women and girls. They have also suffered many losses to KNU guerrillas. Other guerrilla forces, in the north and the west, are also supportive of the anti-junta coalition. See also