Fano Spokesperson in Gojam confirm Defense Force General Killed

A day after local news sources reported the killing of an Ethiopian Defense Force Military General, Fano spokesperson in the Gojjam area of Amhara region confirmed the news.

In an interview with Ethiopian Media Services, aired on Friday, Fano Marshet Tsehahyu, spokesperson, said Brigadier General Gaddissa Diro was killed in Dega Damo area of Gojjam.

“He was staying in the Feresbet area working on deploying one division of the army to Gebeze Mariam. He was at the back when the force he was leading was annihilated but he was encircled,” said Marshet.

The spokesperson also said that he was with sixty escorts when was attacked but four have been captured alive. Those who are captured are staying in the unit to which the spokesperson is a part.

Fano forces undertook intensified operations in many areas of the Amhara region in the past three days in response to the killing of Fano Wubante Abate – a fano leader in South Gondar who was killed earlier this week. The operation itself is named after Wubante Abate.

Fano Marshet also said about 506 defense force members and anti-riot police were captured in different parts of Gojjam since the Wubante Abate Operation was launched over the past three days.

A video footage purportedly showing newly captured defense force members has been circulating on social media but the number of captured soldiers does not appear to be over 500.

The Ethiopian Defense Force did not deny or confirm the killing of one of its military generals on a mission in the Gojjam area. Many of the news updates from the defense force this week were about news of victory over “extremist forces” in the Amhara region and Shene forces in the Oromo region of Ethiopia.

On Saturday, it shared a news update on its social media page claiming that the “Gojjam Command Post” was on a patrol and search operation in Gojjam. It cited Colonel Aleme Tadele, commander of the division deployed in the region, as saying that the Defense Force has seized 20 radio devices with chargers in Gonji Kolela area.

The war between Fano forces – a grassroot movement with mass support in the region and beyond – and Abiy Ahmed’s government started, officially, in August 2023 after the latter declared a state of emergency in the region with the aim to disarm the former. Initially, the government announced that the operation would be completed in a few weeks. As it turns out, the government was unable to disarm Fano and had to extend the six months long state of emergency by another four months. Observers say government military operations in the Amhara region rather made the Fano Force than it was before.

Source: borkena