{"id":838301,"date":"2026-10-25T14:10:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T18:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/?p=838301"},"modified":"2026-10-25T14:10:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T18:10:00","slug":"fano-says-it-struck-nine-towns-in-gondar-and-took-addis-zemen-and-kimir-dingay-in-a-single-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/838301","title":{"rendered":"Fano says it struck nine towns in Gondar and took Addis Zemen and Kimir Dingay in a single day"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Armed<\/figure>\n

Armed men in a village, in a still from a video posted on X on October 24, 2026 with Fano's account of its Gondar offensive. Where or when it was filmed could not be verified. Image: @neby_G via X<\/em><\/p>\n

Fano forces in Gondar say they launched coordinated attacks on nine towns on Saturday and took control of Addis Zemen and Kimir Dingay, claims the federal Gov't has not publicly addressed.<\/p>\n

The operation, which the fighters named "Operation Major Temesgen Abraham," was carried out by the Belay Zeleke 3rd Command and the Tewodros 2nd Command of the Amhara Fano National Movement's Gondar General Province, according to statements from the commands. The towns listed are Gelawdewos, Arb Gebeya, Ambesame, Ginda Temem and Licha, Dera Hamusit, Mekane Yesus, Kimir Dingay, Addis Zemen and Nefas Mewcha, most of them in South Gondar along the roads that connect Gondar, Bahir Dar and Debre Tabor.<\/p>\n

The fighters say at least 278 federal personnel were killed on three of the fronts, 158 in Gelawdewos, 18 in Arb Gebeya and 102 in Ambesame, and that six more, among them a captain, were captured in Arb Gebeya. They say they seized 344 Kalashnikov rifles, nine PK machine guns, two DShK heavy machine guns, a sniper rifle, ammunition, radios and two Isuzu trucks loaded with military supplies and rations, and that they put two patrol vehicles and six motorcycles out of use. None of these numbers can be independently confirmed, and the Ethiopian National Defense Force has not given its own figures.<\/p>\n

The most detailed front report came from the public relations department of the Belay Zeleke 3rd Command, posted on X by the account Geteriew1. It says that in Kimir Dingay its units seized one DShK, four Bren machine guns and 150 Kalashnikovs, killed a riot police battalion commander and an inspector, and released more than 250 young people and students from detention who were "below the age for military service." In Addis Zemen, it says, its 204th Aschalew Dessie Corps broke through trenches and fought at Addis Alem, Telew and Kidane Mihret, while its 206th Kefyalew Dessie Corps fought on several hills around Nefas Mewcha and moved toward Kimir Dingay.<\/p>\n

Amhara War Updates, posting on X, said Fano regained Addis Zemen, the administrative center of Libo Kemkem woreda, after heavy fighting around the town and Arnogarno, and that federal troops pulled back toward Yifag and Wereta. In Guna Begemidir woreda, it said, fighters attacked Kimir Dingay at night and held the town by the afternoon, closing the highway from Debre Tabor to Nefas Mewcha, while residents stayed indoors and the weekly market did not open. It said fighting with mortars and DShK guns also spread to Dengolt in Estie woreda and to Hamusit, Ambesame, Arb Gebeya and Gelawdewos in Dera woreda, cutting the road from Bahir Dar through Dera and Estie to Debre Tabor, that more than 200 government soldiers were captured on the different fronts, and that government drones flew reconnaissance as ground units called for air support.<\/p>\n

Red Sea Axis, summarizing the Belay Zeleke command's report, cited 150 rifles and five machine guns seized at Kimir Dingay. Majakovsk73, writing on X in Italian, said that Kimir Dingay and Addis Zemen were taken but that clashes were recorded along the whole highway, which he called the central axis of the region, and noted that the same area has seen many Fano offensives in recent years. The account hornafricanguy claimed Fano had also taken Girana in North Wollo, and that the federal Gov't was answering with heavy airstrikes and troop deployments along key routes.<\/p>\n

Not everyone believed it. Replying to one of the victory posts, the X user Bedada Motuma wrote in Amharic that Fano's battles and victories exist "only on social media in the digital world," and that if Fano ever controls a single woreda, "let a thorn be pulled from my tongue."<\/p>\n

Dera woreda, where several of the towns named on Saturday are located, has been hit from the air recently. Residents told DW Amharic that a drone struck the Sana primary school in Dera on the morning of October 20. DW Amharic has also reported heavy fighting between the army and Fano around Sanka, near Woldia, which a witness said had closed the Woldia to Bahir Dar road before it reopened.<\/p>\n

The Gondar claims came a day before Ethiopia's army chief, Field Marshal Birhanu Jula, told the 119th Defense Forces Day ceremony in Addis Ababa that the army had defeated "seven Tsimdo groups," the name officials use for the alliance of armed groups that includes the Amhara Fano National Movement. He also warned, according to Fana, that causes framed as "Amhara survival" and similar ethnic slogans could hide threats to the country itself.<\/p>\n

The federal Government Communication Service and the Amhara regional administration have not commented on the Gondar offensive, and Mereja could not independently confirm who controls the towns.<\/p>\n

"Our survival is through our united arm," the Belay Zeleke 3rd Command wrote at the end of its statement.<\/p>\n

Sources<\/h4>\n