Local militia members have been clashing with Ethiopia's military over efforts to disband them, and last week the military retook key Amhara towns by force.
The state-appointed Ethiopian Human Rights Commission on Monday noted "credible reports of strikes and shelling" in Finote Selam and other Amhara towns "resulting in many civilian casualties." It also said Amhara regional officials were the target of attacks, with some killed, "resulting in the temporary collapse of local state structure in many areas."
The emergency measures allow authorities to arrest suspects without a warrant, conduct searches and impose curfews. Under a previous state of emergency imposed during the Tigray conflict, tens of thousands of ethnic Tigrayans were rounded up across the country. One lawyer said he visited seven schools and police stations last week where "hundreds" of people were held. The other lawyer, citing police sources, said 3,000 people had been arrested in Addis Ababa.
Another man said his brother was arrested in Addis Ababa a day before the state of emergency was declared and is being detained at a school with several hundred others. Most of the detainees there are young boys, said the man, who has visited his brother twice.