{"id":179533,"date":"2026-10-10T09:51:59","date_gmt":"2026-10-10T13:51:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/?p=179533"},"modified":"2026-10-10T14:30:36","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T18:30:36","slug":"fano-forces-say-they-took-ten-towns-in-north-shewa-as-menz-residents-tell-dw-civilians-were-killed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/179533","title":{"rendered":"Fano Forces Say They Took Ten Towns in North Shewa as Menz Residents Tell DW Civilians Were Killed"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Drone<\/p>\n

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)<\/em><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The claim was made on Thursday in a Facebook post by Asres Mare, the public relations head of the movement\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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. \u201cA war between two brothers is hard,\u201d the resident said. \u201cOur Ethiopian blood is one, isn\u2019t it?\u201d A resident of Zemero who asked not to be named said the clashes reached almost every part of Menz. \u201cYesterday in Menz the whole day was an invasion,\u201d the resident told DW. \u201cMenz Keya and Menz Mehal Meda were a bit worse. Many lives were lost.\u201d<\/p>\n

Residents of Mehal Meda said civilians were killed by stray bullets. \u201cAround three people,\u201d one said. \u201cA ninth-grade student died. A deacon died.\u201d Another said homes had been hit and that there was mourning across the area. \u201cCivilians died, yes. It is terrible beyond measure,\u201d the resident said. \u201cNow today there is mourning everywhere. There is no counting it.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

On X, Zegabi\u2019s own account, Zegabi Media (@ZegabiMedia<\/a>), posted an Amharic statement at 6:35 AM ET on Friday, with video of drone wreckage, saying that after the regime \u201cwas defeated on the ground\u201d at Mehal Meda and Zemero it turned to drone strikes, and that the drone it had been using \u201ccrashed in the Naz lowland area\u201d 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<\/a>) 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 \u201cS-355,\u201d and that \u201cthe cause of the crash remains unknown.\u201d The same account earlier shared a video (@neby_G<\/a>) it said showed a Fano fighter destroying portraits of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Amhara Region President Arega Kebede inside the mayor\u2019s office in Mehal Meda.<\/p>\n

Ras Menelik (@RasMenelik2<\/a>) 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 \u201cthe community in all the towns is expressing its joy by giving Fano a special welcome.\u201d Red Sea Axis (@redseaaxis<\/a>) wrote at 3:26 AM ET on Saturday that Fano forces \u201creportedly surrounded more than 70\u201d government troops near Mehal Meda and forced them to surrender, adding that \u201caccording to Fano sources, the Asaminew Command seized 72 weapons, including five machine guns and sniper rifles.\u201d Amhara War Updates (@AmharaWarUpdate<\/a>), which says it documents the war in Amhara using data from @AAA_Amhara and other sources, said on Friday that Fano had captured \u201cseven towns across four North Shewa woredas.\u201d Zegabi could not verify the videos or the claims in these posts, and the town lists in them do not fully match.<\/p>\n

The AFNM is one of seven groups in the Ethiopian Peoples\u2019 Forces Alliance for Survival, Natna News reported. The alliance, formed in September, includes the Tigray People\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Sources<\/h3>\n