The head of the Amhara state in Ethiopia submitted his resignation on Wednesday after the federal government recently declared a state of emergency there, in the face of escalating armed clashes between fighters and the army, according to what an official media outlet quoted from the local parliament on Friday.

The Amhara Parliament approved "the request for the resignation of the regional president, Dr. Yelkal Kivale, and appointed Arega Kebede to replace him," according to the statement published by the Amhara Media Corporation (AMICO).

The resignation came Wednesday after the local parliament in Amhara held an "emergency session" and "discussed the current security situation. At the end of the discussions, a consensus was reached on the need for consistent reforms."

The local parliament elected Yekal Kivale Asris in September 2021, and this parliament is dominated by the Prosperity Party of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Kebede is relatively unknown on the political scene.

Since April, the Amhara region has witnessed armed violence that erupted after the federal government announced its desire to dismantle the country's "special forces", which are armed units established by some regional states 15 years ago. Amhara nationalists see this decision as a desire to weaken their region.

The federal government declared a state of emergency on August 4, after renewed fighting in early July between the army and local fighters in the Amhara region in the north of the country, including local militia fighters known as "Fano".

The violence in Amhara raises concerns about the stability of the second largest African country in terms of population, nine months after a peace agreement was reached that ended a brutal two-year conflict in the neighboring Tigray region, where militias and "special forces" in Amhara provided decisive support to the Ethiopian army against rebel forces in Tigray.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, an independent organization linked to the government, reported on August 14 that violent clashes had decreased in major urban areas on August 9, but were continuing in other parts of the region.

The military command appointed in Amhara under the state of emergency said that on August 23 the situation had "recovered to normal" thanks to "measures taken in the second and third phases of the military operations".

"The General Command issued a strict order to continue the military operation in order to promote and ensure peace and stability," it added.

It is almost impossible to verify conditions on the ground in Amhara because federal authorities restrict access to the area.

It is not yet known how many people were killed in the clashes, but the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission expressed concern about the civilian casualties due to the use of heavy artillery.

Doctors in two of the affected cities told AFP in early August that dozens of civilian deaths and injuries had been recorded.

On August 13, at least 26 people were killed in the town of Phinot Silam in an airstrike, a hospital official and a resident told AFP.

Ethiopia is home to more than 80 multilingual ethnicities and has often had difficulty managing diversity within its borders.

Ethiopia is a federal republic comprising 12 regional states along ethno-linguistic lines, and two administrative councils, including Addis Ababa.

The Amhara region is predominantly inhabited by the Amhara people, the second largest ethnic group in the country in terms of population.