Fano is an ethno-nationalist Amhara militia and former protest movement that first emerged in 2010s. Ideologically Amhara nationalist and Pan-Ethiopianist, Fano has been engaged with several wars and civil conflicts in Ethiopia, and were a major belligerent in the Tigray War and the OLA insurgency.
Relations between the Ethiopian government and Fano aggravated in 2023 which ultimately resulted in the ongoing War in Amhara. During the course of conflict, the Fano militia controlled most of Amhara region and is composed of six major factions operating in the zones and districts of the Amhara region. These factions are:
The Fano faction in Wollo is led by Mihretu "Mire" Wodajo and commanded by Command division of Fano under Colonel Fantahun Muhabe. In April 2024, the division said to be reached an agreement the federal government under single command. [1] Like other divisions, the Wollo faction is actively operating in the Amhara Region and engaging in fighting against Ethiopian government forces. [2] In July 2024, the Ethiopian security forces captured the division's logistic supplier in South Wollo Zone. [3]
The Gojjam Fano is co-headed by Asres Mare and Zemene Kassie. In August 2024, the Gojjam Fano has been undertaking special operation after the ENDF deployed 30,000 troops As part of their strategy, the division restricted any vehicular movement, only ambulance allowed for transportation. [4] [5] [6] The Gojjam Fano rumored to reach agreement with the government. Meanwhile the head of the foreign and diaspora affairs department for the division Simeneh Mulatu dismissed that there have not been any talks or negotiations they started with the government. [7] On 26 March 2024, the ENDF Brigadier General Gaddissa Diro was killed in Dega Damo area of Gojjam. [8]
The Gondar Fano is headed by Baye Kengaw and Mesafint Tesfu is the leader of The Amhara Fano Unity in Gondar (AFUiG). [9] The group has played a crucial role in operations during the August 2023 fighting with the ENDF troops, caputing the Gondar city until they pushed back by the troops on 8 August. [10] On 20 March 2024, Major Wubante Abate, a prominent Fano leader and founder of Guna Brigade of Fano forces in Gondar was reportedly killed in action. He was killed in Dera district, Gelawdowos area in after long battle with the government force. [11] On 4 April 2024, the Fano units in South Gondar claimed that they have killed 52 ENDF soldiers while 36 reportedly wounded. The operation codenamed "Zemecha Operation Wubante" was followed as a response of Wubante's death in the same region. [12] [13]
The Shewa Fano is led by Meketaw Mamo under the name Shewa Province Command. [14] On 3 March 2024, Fano forces captured Shewa Robit town. Mamo Bridge confirmed to Anchor Media that the town is under control and fighting is take place. After the government withdrew from the mountainous region, it was alleged that the government troops targeted artillery shelling in the town. [15] In July, the division reportedly engaged fighting with joint ENDF–militia force in a location about 55 kilometers to the capital Addis Ababa. According to an Ethiopian Media Services (EMS) report, the government force deployed shelling at Koremash town, in Hageremariam Kessem woreda, with heavy artillery indiscriminately. Deputy Public Relation Head of the Amhara Fano Shewa Nigatu Yitaferu, the Fano forces have withdrew from the town to avoid civilian causality, while ambushing into the rural areas. [16] On 22 July, Shewa's Fano leader Assegid Mekonnen has been surrendered by the Ethiopian security forces. [17] [18]
The Amhara People's Army was founded by Eskinder Nega in Gojjam on 20 May 2023. [19] It was initially named as the Amhara People’s Front (APF). [20] [21] [22] It was rumored that Eskinder was allied to other Fano groups and he was hidden. [23]
The Amhara Region, officially the Amhara National Regional State, is a regional state in northern Ethiopia and the homeland of the Amhara, Awi, Xamir, Argoba, and Qemant people. Its capital is Bahir Dar which is the seat of the Regional Government of Amhara. Amhara is the site of the largest inland body of water in Ethiopia, Lake Tana, and Semien Mountains National Park. Amhara is bordered by Sudan to the west and northwest and by other the regions of Ethiopia: Tigray to the north, Afar to the east, Benishangul-Gumuz to the west and southwest, and Oromia to the south. Towns and cities in Amhara include: Bahir Dar, Dessie, Gonder, Debre Birhan, Debre Tabor, Kombolcha, Weldiya, Debre Markos, Seqota, Kobo, and Metema.
Metemma, also known as Metemma Yohannes, is a town in northwestern Ethiopia, on the border with Sudan. Located in the Semien Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, Metemma has a latitude and longitude of 12°58′N36°12′E with an elevation of 685 meters above sea level. Across the border is the corresponding Sudanese village of Gallabat. According to the British diplomat Hormuzd Rassam, who travelled through Metemma in November 1865 on his diplomatic mission to Emperor Tewodros II, "Metemma" comes from the Arabic word for "the place of cutting, or termination – indicating the end of the Muslim provinces", although at the time the settlement was better known as Suk ul-Gallabat.
Eskinder Nega is an Ethiopian journalist, blogger and politician who has been jailed several times by the Ethiopian government on convictions for treason and terrorism.
The 2021 Ethiopian general election to elect members of the House of Peoples' Representatives was held on 21 June 2021 and 30 September 2021. Regional elections were also held on those dates.
Fano is an ethno-nationalist Amhara militia and former protest movement. It has engaged in violent clashes throughout Ethiopia in the name of neutralizing perceived threats to the Amhara people. Fano has absorbed many units and personnel of the Amhara Regional Special Forces that did not integrate into the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF). Fano militias have been involved in armed conflicts with the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), and the ENDF. They have also clashed with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) on the border of Ethiopia and Sudan.
The government of Amhara Region is composed of the executive branch, led by the President; the legislative branch, which comprises the Regional Council; and the judicial branch, which is led by the Regional Supreme Court. The Amhara Region alongside almost all other regions are based on a singular ethnicity excluding Chartered Cities, Addis Ababa, and Dire Dawa and the Region Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region.
The 2021 Ataye clashes were two episodes of large-scale ethnic violence killing hundreds in and around the Ethiopian town of Ataye, leading to nearly a quarter of the town being destroyed and hundreds of thousands displaced.
Persecution of Amhara people Since the 1990s, the Amhara people of Ethiopia have been subject to ethnic violence, including massacres by Tigrayan, Oromo and Gumuz ethnic groups among others, which some have characterized as a genocide. Large-scale killings and grave human rights violations followed the implementation of the ethnic-federalist system in the country. In most of the cases, the mass murders were silent with perpetrators from various ethno-militant groups—from TPLF/TDF, OLF–OLA, and Gumuz armed groups.
The War in Amhara is an armed conflict and insurgency in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia that began in April 2023 between the Fano militia and the Ethiopian government. The conflict started after the government attempted to dissolve the Amhara Special Forces and other regional forces to "promote national unity." This move led to protests and armed resistance by local forces under Fano.
A six-month state of emergency was declared on 4 August 2023 by the Ethiopian government in response to severe conflict and instabilities in Amhara Region after the Amhara militia Fano and the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) clashed in several locations in the region on 1 August. On 3 August, the Amhara Region government requested additional help to the federal troops. The fighting is the most serious security crisis since the Tigray War.
On 13 August 2023, the Ethiopian National Defense Force launched a drone strike on the town of Finote Selam, in the West Gojjam Zone of Amhara Region in Ethiopia which killed 30 people while injuring more than 55 people who underwent emergency treatment. The strike was occurred after the ENDF recaptured several towns in the Amhara Region during its clashes with Fano militia in early August.
The 2022 North Shewaclashes were a series of clashes that broke out between ethnic Amhara Fano militiamen, the Oromo Liberation Army, and the Ethiopian National Defence Forces in the North Shewa zone in the Oromia region and the Oromia Zone in the Amhara region, which resulted in dozens of people killed and thousands displaced.
The following is a list of events predicted and scheduled to take place in the year 2024 in Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian Regional Special Forces is the gendarmerie and paramilitary force of the Ethiopian National Defense Force. It was first established in 2007 by the order of the federal government in order to counter the insurgency in the Somali Region. it has the specialized task to maintain regional and nationwide security and counter any form of insurgencies and terrorist incidents.
During July 2024, the Fano militia started an offensive in the Amhara region of Ethiopia. The offensive resulted in the capture of several key cities and strategic areas, including the city of Debark and the Ethiopian-Sudanese border town of Metemma. The offensive is part of the ongoing War in Amhara, a conflict that began in April 2023 between the Fano militia and the Ethiopian government.
Zemene Kassie is an Ethiopian militant commander who is the main leader of Amhara militia Fano in the Gojjam faction in Ethiopia. Since 2023, he is fighting the Ethiopian government force in the War in Amhara.
During the War in Amhara, the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) has heavily utilized drone strikes in combat operations against Fano militia and civilian population. The attacks have reportedly resulted in widespread destruction, civilian causalities and humanitarian crisis. In particular since October 2024, drone strikes have been escalating in the Amhara region, notably the South Mecha woreda of the North Gojjam Zone following the commencement of the ENDF's counteroffensive.
Mihretu "Mire" Wodajo is an Ethiopian militiant leader of Fano militia in the Wollo faction. Since 2023, he is currently allied to Fano as part of War in Amhara.
Meketaw Mamo is an Ethiopian military commander of Fano militia who leads the Shewa Province under Shewa Province Command. Since 2023, Meketaw is fighting the Ethiopian government force in the War in Amhara.
Baye Kengaw is an Ethiopian militant commander of Fano militia who leads the South Gondar Command. Since 2023, he is partaking in the War in Amhara fighting against the government force.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)