{"id":838723,"date":"2026-11-04T00:20:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T05:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/?p=838723"},"modified":"2026-11-04T00:20:00","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T05:20:00","slug":"fano-movement-says-drones-killed-more-than-20-in-a-south-gondar-town-as-army-claims-a-wollo-stronghold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/838723","title":{"rendered":"Fano movement says drones killed more than 20 in a South Gondar town as army claims a Wollo stronghold"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A damaged three wheeled taxi outside a building in Chisabalima, a village near Wuchale in South Wollo, in an image shared on X on November 3, 2026 by Kenya Axis, which said local sources blamed army artillery. Mereja Media could not verify where or when it was filmed. Photo: Kenya Axis (@kenyaaxis) via X<\/em><\/p>\n

The Amhara Fano National Movement said on Tuesday drone strikes killed more than 20 people in Jara Gedo in South Gondar, as government supporters said the army had taken a Fano stronghold in Wollo.<\/p>\n

In a press statement released by its foreign affairs office, the movement said four drone strikes hit Jara Gedo, a town in Andabet district, between 7 PM on Sunday, November 1, and 7:30 AM on Monday, striking the town’s public associations office, its health center and private homes while people were asleep. It said more than 20 residents were killed and an unknown number wounded. The statement listed other strikes it blamed on the federal government: one at the gate of a Buna Bank branch in Wolesh town, also in Andabet, at about 6:20 PM on October 30, which it said killed two civilians, and strikes on Kebele 01 of Wuchale in South Wollo from October 31 to November 2, which it said killed more than eight. Mereja Media could not reach residents of Jara Gedo, and none of these tolls could be independently confirmed.<\/p>\n

The movement argued that the government’s drones are precise enough to tell fighters from civilians and that the strikes on civilians are therefore deliberate. Federal and Amhara regional officials have not commented publicly on the reported strikes in Andabet.<\/p>\n

On the other side of the front lines, accounts that support the government said the army had won an important battle in South Wollo. Daniel Daba (@dany_daba), sharing a report he credited to Almaw Tiruneh, wrote that units of the army’s 11th Command destroyed a heavily fortified Fano position on a mountain in Kerkere, Kebele 011 of Were Ilu district, about 82 kilometers from Dessie. He accused Fano of building the position around the historic Weyibla Mariam church and using the church as a shield for three years, and of working with fighters of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. Natnael Mekonnen (@NatnaelMekonne7) posted a video he said showed the army in control of the position. The Ethiopian National Defense Force has not issued a statement on Were Ilu, and Mereja Media could not verify the videos or the claim about the church.<\/p>\n

Fighting also continued around Wuchale, north of Dessie, a town where, according to earlier Mereja Media reports, fighting began last week. Wazema Radio reported on Tuesday that fighting between government forces and Fano went on in Ambassel district for another day, that residents described jets and drones supporting the fighting in Wuchale in the morning, and that clashes continued in Robit, Wurgessa and Girana, according to a post on X quoting the station. Wazema also said the Dessie to Woldia road had been closed since Monday.<\/p>\n

A Wuchale resident told DW Amharic that Monday’s fighting, which at times was hand to hand, lasted from about 4 AM until 6 PM, and that a jet struck behind his house. “It looks like hell,” he said, adding that an ambulance driver was wounded by heavy weapons fire while inside his home. Another resident told the broadcaster that the army was in the town on Tuesday and that shops had reopened. Kenya Axis (@kenyaaxis), a regional news account, said local sources reported more than 18 houses and several vehicles damaged by army artillery in Chisabalima, also called Tissa Abalima, a village near Wuchale.<\/p>\n

Both sides are making claims about the other’s losses that cannot be checked. Thomas C. Mountain (@thomascmountain), a writer who says he has reported from Eritrea for decades, relayed a report that at least 120 soldiers were killed, 160 wounded and 37 captured when Fano forces overran army positions in Wuchale. Habtish Gurmu (@Habtishgreat), a commentator who backs the federal government, wrote that the government allied Amhara peace forces had launched an offensive against the movement’s fighters and that a Fano attack on Wuchale ended in heavy losses for them. Mereja Media found no evidence for either set of figures.<\/p>\n

The reports of strikes on civilians come a day after World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X that reports of attacks on civilians in the Amhara and Tigray regions were “deeply disturbing,” and that children, including a newborn, were among those reportedly killed in an attack on the Jaari 2 displacement camp in Amhara. He also cited an attack in Rama in Tigray, where BBC Amharic had reported that a drone strike killed at least 12 people.<\/p>\n

Mereja Media sent questions on November 1 to Ethiopia’s Government Communication Service about the fighting around Wuchale and the closure of the highway. No reply had been received by Tuesday evening. The war in Amhara escalated in August 2023, months after Fano forces rejected an April federal order to dissolve the regional special forces, and residents across the region have described repeated drone strikes on towns and villages since then, DW Amharic and other outlets have reported.<\/p>\n

Sources<\/h4>\n