At Least 317 Fano Fighters Killed and 125 Injured in Two-Day Clashes in Ethiopia's Amhara Region

At Least 317 Fano Fighters Killed and 125 Injured in Two-Day Clashes in Ethiopia's Amhara Region

Ethiopian military claimed on Friday that it had killed more than 300 Fano fighters in a two-day battle in the Amhara region. The Fano fighters, who had previously fought as allies of the military against rebels in the Tigray region, were reportedly "devastated" after launching attacks in several areas of the Amhara region.

In a statement, the military reported that 317 Fano fighters were killed, and 125 others were injured.

However, Abebe Fantaahun, a spokesperson for the Amhara Fano forces, denied these claims, stating that the military had not killed even 30 of their fighters. He told Reuters, "We have not yet found any evidence that the military has killed even 30 of our fighters."

On the other hand, Yohannes Negusu, a spokesperson for the Fano forces in Gondar, claimed that 602 soldiers were killed, 430 were injured, and 98 were captured. He also said that weapons were seized during the clash.

Previously, the Fano fighters had fought alongside Ethiopian and Eritrean forces against the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), but after the peace agreement in 2022, relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea deteriorated.

Meanwhile, the human rights organization "Human Rights Watch" has accused the Ethiopian military of human rights violations and war crimes. The organization reported that several innocent civilians were killed in the town of Merawi in the Amhara region last year.

Letitia Bader, Deputy Director of the Africa Division at Human Rights Watch, stated, "The brutal killings by the Ethiopian military have exposed the government's claims of restoring law and order as false." She further said, "Since the conflict with the Fano forces began, innocent civilians have once again been victims of the military's abuses."