Fano is not, as I and many first thought, a disorganized local militia operating in a few areas of the Amhara region with no logistics and leadership structure. I have now come to know that a significant number of Amharas including intellectuals, military personnel, merchants, businessmen, farmers, students, the youth, women and many more have joined Fano. This includes many middle and lower-ranking PP officials. They have been voluntarily contributing their money, time and resources for months in coordinating and strengthening Fano. Fano has no shortage of money, food supplies or manpower. It has also been quietly organizing and actively engaging the rural population in the Amhara region. The ill-advised political adventures of the federal and the Oromia regional government such as the attack on the Orthodox church, the massacres in Wollega and the blockage of Amharas from entering Addis Ababa were extensively used to easily get support from the rural population.
One thing all of the Fano members and supporters have in common is that they have this unprecedented determination of the ENOUGH spirit. They have absolutely decided to die or liberate Amhara and Ethiopia from the PP regime. I have never seen such determination in the Amhara region before. They see Abiy and TPLF as an existential threat and have decided never ever to be under the yoke of these groups ever again. They are ready to pay any price to get rid of Abiy and his pp regime. This is also the main reason why not even a single Fano fighter surrendered or could be disarmed since ENDF started the war on Fano some 5 months ago. All of them would rather die fighting than surrender alive. On the contrary, we have seen ENDF many times surrendering and being disarmed. This shows you the level of determination the Abiy regime is facing in the Amhara region. The existential threat and the betrayal felt by the Amhara people at this moment is unprecedented and there is absolutely no way Abiy can win this war.
Other than the determination of the people, other factors such as the mountainous terrain and the huge size of the Amhara region make it very hard for the government even to move logistics and supplies let alone to win the war. Fano is and will continue to easily attack and ambush ENDF convoys destroying ENDF's capabilities in a very short period of time. Amhara region is very huge with the highest concentration of mountains than anywhere in Ethiopia and Africa. This is the heartland of the mountain chains known as the Abyssinian highlands. The more ENDF stays in the Amhara region, the more it loses material and manpower and there is absolutely no way it can sustain such losses in the long run.
Due to the unprecedented determination of the people and the logistical nightmare, coupled with the low morale of the Army and the lack of public support, the government may soon have to declare a ceasefire to save what is left of the ENDF. In fact, I honestly don't think the Abiy government has any other option than declaring a ceasefire and trying to seek dialogue with Fano.
We may soon see the government officially accepting the suggested solution by Gedu Andargachew.