Amhara’s Power Dynamics: Fano vs. Fascist Abiy Ahmed

By AFP

In recent weeks, a significant deployment of Ethiopian military forces has occurred in Amhara state, which has been the focal point of a prolonged insurgency. A security source disclosed this information to AFP on Saturday, highlighting the escalating situation in the region.

The Fano militia, which has historically served as a self-defense group for the Amhara ethnic community—Ethiopia’s second largest ethnic group—began its armed resistance against the federal government in April 2023. This uprising was triggered by the government’s attempts to disarm regional military forces, leading to heightened tensions and conflict.

In response to the unrest, the Ethiopian government imposed a state of emergency in Amhara in August 2023, a measure that remained in effect until June. Despite the expiration of this declaration, disturbances have persisted. According to the anonymous security source, there have been significant reinforcements of federal troops in the area over the past fortnight, along with numerous arrests of officials believed to be collaborating with the Fano militia.

On Tuesday, Amnesty International reported that there have been widespread arbitrary detentions occurring in the Amhara region, with officials reportedly arriving with a list of hundreds of individuals targeted for arrest, which includes several members of the academic community.

Tigere Chagutah, the regional director of Amnesty, stated that the Ethiopian army and police’s continuous actions of mass arbitrary detentions in Amhara serve as further proof of the government’s complete disregard for the rule of law.

The information provided by Amnesty has not been independently verified by AFP, as access to the region has been significantly restricted by the authorities.

Federal forces and the Fano militia engaged in conflict on September 17 in Debark, a town in the Amhara region located approximately 750 kilometers (460 miles) north of Addis Ababa, resulting in at least nine fatalities, predominantly among civilians.

The Fano, which operates largely autonomously without a centralized command structure, has intensified its assaults on federal forces over the past year and has intermittently seized control of various towns and cities.

During the severe civil war against rebels in the neighboring Tigray region from 2020 to 2022, the Fano and numerous Amharans allied with federal government forces.

The Amharan population had aspirations of gaining control over territories in Tigray that they have historically claimed, and many felt a sense of betrayal when these aspirations were not realized in the peace agreement reached between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the Tigrayan leadership in November 2022.