Mereja.Forum

[Revelations]

There's still a lot of room for improvement but one has to celebrate the small wins!

So who is fighting in Amhara?

Mr Abiy is facing a formidable challenge to his power from militias known as Fano - an Amharic word loosely translated as "volunteer fighters". The phrase was popularised in the 1930s, when "volunteer fighters" joined the army of Emperor Haile Selassie to fight Italian invaders.

It is still used today by the farmers and young men who have formed militias to defend the Amhara people whose future, they believe, is threatened by the government and other ethnic groups.

https://news.yahoo.com/why-ethiopias-am ... M-KQx2zZPz

[Revelations]

What triggered the conflict?

The violence can be traced back to the peace deal signed by the federal government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) to end the two-year civil war that saw Tigrayan forces advance towards Addis Ababa in 2021, before being forced to retreat back north.

The agreement - brokered by the African Union (AU), with the backing of the US - was widely welcomed as an attempt to restore stability in Ethiopia - a vast country that has long been regarded as a lynchpin for security in the Horn of Africa and as the birthplace of pan-African unity.

But the deal was met with deep suspicion among Amharas as they were excluded from the talks despite the fact that the Fano militias and Amhara special forces - a paramilitary group linked to the regional government - fought on the side of the federal army.

The influential US-based campaign group, the Amhara Association of America, went as far as to describe it as a "war pact" - a charge denied by Mr Abiy's government.

Nevertheless, the perception took root in Amhara, especially after Mr Abiy then announced plans to dismantle the special forces present in each of Ethiopia's 11 ethnically based regions.

He proposed that the special forces - which are thought to number in the tens of thousands - be integrated into the federal army and police force in order to foster ethnic unity and to prevent regional forces being drawn into conflicts - as was the case in Tigray when its special forces joined the rebellion against Mr Abiy's government in 2020, more than two years after he assumed the premiership.

But many Amharas saw his plan as a red flag, arguing it would leave them vulnerable to attacks from neighbouring Tigray - their historic rivals for land and power in Ethiopia.

Though some of the Amhara special forces have agreed to integrate into the army and police, many others have deserted to the Fano, hiding in mountains and villages and using their weapons to carry out raids on government and military posts.

In some towns and villages, the militias have tried to establish their own administrations, in a direct threat to the power of the government.

[Kara]

There's still a lot of room for improvement but one has to celebrate the small wins!

So who is fighting in Amhara?

Mr Abiy is facing a formidable challenge to his power from militias known as Fano - an Amharic word loosely translated as "volunteer fighters". The phrase was popularised in the 1930s, when "volunteer fighters" joined the army of Emperor Haile Selassie to fight Italian invaders.

It is still used today by the farmers and young men who have formed militias to defend the Amhara people whose future, they believe, is threatened by the government and other ethnic groups.

https://news.yahoo.com/why-ethiopias-am ... M-KQx2zZPz

ምራቦች ጥሩ ብለዋል። ፋኖ ወዶ ዘማች ነው። ወዶ ዘማች ድሮም ያለ ቢሆን ከጣሊያ ወረራ ዘመን ማያያዛቸው በጣም ጥሩ ነው ። ጠሚ አቢይ ይህን ነገር ለምን የጋላ ወረራ ትሉታልችሁ በማለት ይቆጣል ። ታዲያ ምን ሊባል ያላል ። ምራቦች የጣሊያን ወረራና የጋላ ወረራ ማያያዛቸው ትገቢ ነው ።

[Revelations]

Here's another news report with better analysis than the recent past.

Driving Factors and Causes

Though Fano militias have been active in the Amhara region for the past five years, they have only managed to pose such a major threat since the formation in July 2023 of the Amhara Popular Front, a loose umbrella organization for the different local Fano forces. Iskender Nega, the former president of the opposition Balderas for Genuine Democracy party, is said to be the front’s leader.

The immediate trigger of the latest armed uprising by the Fano militias in Amhara was the federal government’s decision in April 2023 to disband regional special forces and integrate them into the federal armed forces. But a number of other factors contributed to deepening the grievances that have now exploded into violence.

To begin with, the Amhara forces that fought alongside the federal government forces in Tigray felt excluded from the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement that ended the war there, and that sentiment has only been exacerbated during the agreement’s implementation process. In particular, they consider the agreement to threaten their recently gained control of the disputed Welkait-Tsegede and Raya areas in western and southern Tigray region.

Ethnically targeted attacks against members of the Amhara ethnic group living in different parts of the country over the past five years have also been a source of frustration, triggering anger against the federal government for its failure to protect Amhara as well as its perceived inaction in response to the attacks.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/am ... r-AA1fllVU

[Abere]

Effectively, Abiy Ahmed lost the battle in all aspects. The world is telling Amhara people have been mistreated ,cleansed and abused by Abiy Ahmed. Besides, they are stating the so-called "pretoria deal" lacks legitimacy. Wow, this is a wonderful victory of Fano.

Abi Ahemd now lacks logical, moral and legal ground. He is exposing more of his criminality to the world.

[Union]

Thank you brother Rev

This is as historic as it can get! ያለውን ሁሉም ይወደዋል እንደሚባለው በምእራቡ አለም። ወይም ያለው ይጨመርለታል እንደሚሉት ማለት ነው ነገሩ

They see Fano is a force too powerful. They see the Fano effect has much higher magnitude than the Minilk of Adwa effect on the oppressed people of the world, not only on Ethiopia and Africa in general.

So the question now is why didn't they want to challenge Fano's progress knowing they hate Fano due to it's far reaching consequences that can cascades into the whole world? I think they want to come in as the good guys and destroy it from within in the name of UN and African Union........

Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on ME!!

There's still a lot of room for improvement but one has to celebrate the small wins!

So who is fighting in Amhara?

Mr Abiy is facing a formidable challenge to his power from militias known as Fano - an Amharic word loosely translated as "volunteer fighters". The phrase was popularised in the 1930s, when "volunteer fighters" joined the army of Emperor Haile Selassie to fight Italian invaders.

It is still used today by the farmers and young men who have formed militias to defend the Amhara people whose future, they believe, is threatened by the government and other ethnic groups.

https://news.yahoo.com/why-ethiopias-am ... M-KQx2zZPz