Accounts close to Fano said on Monday that its fighters had captured the town of Wuchale in South Wollo and closed the main highway between Dessie and Woldia, as residents described days of artillery fire and drone strikes.
The account @neby_G, which follows the Amhara Fano National Movement closely, wrote at 5:43 PM Eastern Time on Monday that Fano forces took Wuchale, in Ambassel district, on November 2 after five days of heavy fighting with the federal army. According to the post, the fighters pushed into neighboring Tehuledere district, took control of sections of the highway and set up roadblocks to stop army reinforcements and supplies coming from Mersa, and the road has been completely closed to traffic. It said Fano captured six officials, among them an army colonel and the district police chief, and that another army commander and his troops were surrounded at Kuntiro.
The same post said the army answered with MiG fighter jets, armed drones, rockets and heavy artillery, and that shelling and air strikes hit homes behind the police station and in the Wanza neighborhood of Wuchale, destroying or damaging more than 18 houses and causing civilian casualties. It shared videos and photos of armed men in the town. None of these claims could be independently confirmed.
Residents gave a more cautious picture. A resident of Wuchale told DW Amharic that fighting between the army and Fano forces had gone on for three days around an army camp at a place called Danka Michael, sometimes heavy and sometimes quieter, and that the highway from Dessie to Woldia was closed to vehicles. The resident said heavy weapons could be heard, that there were drone strikes, and that an unknown number of civilians had been hurt, while drones were also seen flying reconnaissance over the Ambassel mountains. Wazema Radio reported on Monday that the road had been closed since Sunday, and residents told it that repeated drone strikes hit Danka Michael on Monday, though they could not say for certain whether civilians were harmed. Wazema added that fighting was also continuing in the rural areas of Wurgessa and Girana in Habru district, further north on the same road.
Mereja Media reported early on Monday that Fano media and monitoring accounts said the fighters had entered Wuchale over the weekend. Mereja Media sent questions on Sunday to Ethiopia’s Government Communication Service asking whether Fano fighters had entered the town and whether the government still controls it and the highway. No reply had been received by Monday evening, and neither the federal government nor the Amhara regional administration has commented publicly on the fighting.
Wuchale gave its name to the 1889 treaty between Emperor Menelik II and Italy, and today it sits on the main road that carries troops, fuel and food north from Dessie toward Woldia and the fronts in Tigray and Afar. A closure of even a few days leaves traders and travelers stranded on one of the busiest routes in the north of the country.
Fano accounts also reported fighting in the west of the region. Amhara War Updates (@AmharaWarUpdate) wrote on Monday that Fano units fought advancing government forces in Qwara district of West Gondar on October 31, that more than 48 soldiers were killed and over 30 wounded in Bignagna kebele, and that reinforcements sent from Gelego were stopped at Ardem. It accused government troops of killing two civilians, a medical doctor and a tractor operator. Kenya Axis and Red Sea Axis, two regional news accounts, shared footage on Monday morning that pro Fano sources said showed a destroyed army unit near Gondar, and described the casualty claims as coming from those sources only.
Not every voice from the region tells the same story. Habtish Gurmu (@Habtishgreat), a commentator who backs the federal government, shared a video on Sunday of a man he identified as Marishet Tsehaye, a former communications director of the Amhara Fano National Movement, who says he was captured, beaten and tortured by members of his own faction before he escaped and surrendered to the government. Mereja Media could not verify that account either.
The war in Amhara escalated in August 2023, months after Fano militias rejected an April federal order to dissolve the regional special forces. Heavy weapons and drones have been used in and around Wuchale since Saturday, according to residents who spoke to Wazema Radio.