Addis Ababa: Dozens of Fano planning to hit the capital arrested

Addis Ababa: Dozens of Amhara Fano fighters have been arrested by the Ethiopian Security Forces. The Joint Task Force on Security and Safety last night issued a statement in this regard. This is second major development this week following loss of billions of birrs by Ethiopian Commercial Bank. Read more..

The authorities claim that Fano fighters have been organizing themselves for the last 5 months on Amhara Oromia border. They were planning to carrying out terrorist activities and create law and order situation in Addis Ababa, says government. The Fano fighters were allegedly using Minjar Shenkora as their headquarters.

Minjar Shenkora is situated in North Shewa zone of the Amhara region. It is located on Amhara Oromia border. In recent months, clashes were reported between Amhara Fano fighters in Minjar Shenkora, Dera North Shewa Oromia and other areas on Amhara Oromia border. Fano fighters have been announcing that their destination is Addis Ababa and they want to remove Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed’s government. Their activities on Amhara Oromia border are seen as an attempt to advance from the Amhara region, through Oromia, towards Addis Ababa, the Federal Capital. Read more..

According to the Joint Task Force , 50 “extremists” have been arrested and different types of weapons have been recovered from them. The arrested people were allegedly using Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC) premises for meetings and consultations. Ethiopian government has been accusing Fano groups of using EOTC churches and monasteries as sanctuaries and training camps. No official statement has been released by the EOTC in connection with these new allegations so far.

Ethiopian Journalists based abroad like Habtamu Ayalew, Messay Mekonnen etc are also part of the gang of Fano fighters who want to create conflict in Addis Ababa, the joint task force alleges.

Interestingly 2 of the pictures (one shown above) released by the Joint Task Force are a few years old, which raises questions about the veracity of the claims made by the government’s security agencies.

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