Fano Forces Say They Took Ten Towns in North Shewa as Menz Residents Tell DW Civilians Were Killed

Drone wreckage on a grassy field, frame from a Zegabi Media video from Menz, North Shewa

Fano Forces Say They Took Ten Towns in North Shewa as Menz Residents Tell DW Civilians Were Killed

October 10, 2026

News and Articles

The wreckage of a drone lies on a grassy field in a frame from a video Zegabi posted on its X account on Oct. 9, 2026, with a Fano statement saying a government drone came down in the Naz lowland area of Menz, North Shewa. Where and when the video was filmed, and what brought the aircraft down, could not be independently verified. (Photo: Zegabi Media / X)

Fano forces of the Amhara Fano National Movement (AFNM) say they have taken ten towns in the Shewa area of the Amhara region, most of them within 150 km of Addis Ababa, after days of fighting with federal troops that residents of Menz say has killed civilians, among them a ninth-grade student and a deacon.

The claim was made on Thursday in a Facebook post by Asres Mare, the public relations head of the movement’s South Front, according to Borkena, which reported it on Friday. The post listed Zemero, Mehal Meda, Wogere, Meragna, Rema, Jihur, Anchekorer, Merhabete Tache Bet, Merhabete Lay Bet and Amba, and said fighters from five commands had coordinated the offensive on Ethiopian Defense Force positions. Borkena said the post claimed that 520 government soldiers had been captured and several hundred killed, and that Fano had seized weapons including 1,575 AK-47 rifles, 17 Bren machine guns and 15 sniper rifles. The post did not give Fano’s own losses. Borkena said the account had not been independently verified and that the Ethiopian Defense Force had not commented. Zegabi could not verify the figures.

Fano sources quoted on X have credited the Shewa Fano Asaminew Command with the fighting around Mehal Meda. Neither the Ethiopian National Defense Force, the federal government in Addis Ababa nor the Amhara regional administration had publicly answered the claims by Saturday morning, and Zegabi found no report on the towns from international news agencies.

Residents gave DW Amharic a grim account of the fighting in Menz. A resident of Mehal Meda, the capital of Menz Gera district, said the fighting started at about 5 in the morning on Wednesday and that armed fighters came into the town at around 9 or 10. “A war between two brothers is hard,” the resident said. “Our Ethiopian blood is one, isn’t it?” A resident of Zemero who asked not to be named said the clashes reached almost every part of Menz. “Yesterday in Menz the whole day was an invasion,” the resident told DW. “Menz Keya and Menz Mehal Meda were a bit worse. Many lives were lost.”

Residents of Mehal Meda said civilians were killed by stray bullets. “Around three people,” one said. “A ninth-grade student died. A deacon died.” Another said homes had been hit and that there was mourning across the area. “Civilians died, yes. It is terrible beyond measure,” the resident said. “Now today there is mourning everywhere. There is no counting it.” DW said its attempts to reach local officials were not successful. Ethiopia Observer, citing the DW report, said several houses were damaged and some families displaced, and put Mehal Meda about 165 km from Addis Ababa.

On X, Zegabi’s own account, Zegabi Media (@ZegabiMedia), posted an Amharic statement at 6:35 AM ET on Friday, with video of drone wreckage, saying that after the regime “was defeated on the ground” at Mehal Meda and Zemero it turned to drone strikes, and that the drone it had been using “crashed in the Naz lowland area” of Menz and Gishe. The statement said a government force that had dug in at the World Vision compound in Mehal Meda was routed, with a few soldiers scattering into the forest, and that its weapons, ammunition and supplies were now held by Fano. An account posting as Nebiyu (@neby_G) wrote at 10:53 AM ET that the drone crashed after carrying out three rounds of airstrikes around Mehal Meda and Mezezo, that its wing carried the marking “S-355,” and that “the cause of the crash remains unknown.” The same account earlier shared a video (@neby_G) it said showed a Fano fighter destroying portraits of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Amhara Region President Arega Kebede inside the mayor’s office in Mehal Meda.

Ras Menelik (@RasMenelik2) posted an Amharic statement in the name of the command at 12:11 PM ET on Friday that listed the towns by district, among them Wogere in Menz Lalo Midir, Jihur in Moretna Jiru and Aliyu Amba in Ankober, and said “the community in all the towns is expressing its joy by giving Fano a special welcome.” Red Sea Axis (@redseaaxis) wrote at 3:26 AM ET on Saturday that Fano forces “reportedly surrounded more than 70” government troops near Mehal Meda and forced them to surrender, adding that “according to Fano sources, the Asaminew Command seized 72 weapons, including five machine guns and sniper rifles.” Amhara War Updates (@AmharaWarUpdate), which says it documents the war in Amhara using data from @AAA_Amhara and other sources, said on Friday that Fano had captured “seven towns across four North Shewa woredas.” Zegabi could not verify the videos or the claims in these posts, and the town lists in them do not fully match.

The AFNM is one of seven groups in the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival, Natna News reported. The alliance, formed in September, includes the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), Ethiopia Observer reported. The Shewa fighting came about a week after Fano claimed Mekane Selam in South Wollo, Borkena said. Residents of Mekane Selam told DW that heavy weapons were fired from the town toward the countryside early on Wednesday and that the town was calm afterward. The war between federal forces and Fano in Amhara began in mid-2023.

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