The last time Aster saw her husband was when he left for work after lunch. As he usually did, he said goodbye to his wife and their two-year-old child before leaving. It would be the last time Aster saw him alive. Later that day, she called her husband several times. He told her that he and his colleagues were safe but warned her not to leave the house because no one knew what might happen.

Aster’s fear stemmed from reports that two federal “army commanders” had been killed on Saturday, 21 October 2023. The area was tense. The two commanders were killed outside a small business run by Aster’s husband. Soldiers accused him of informing Fano fighters about the commanders’ movements, leading to their deaths. The 36-year-old, the owner of the business, and a security guard were taken to a temporary military camp for questioning. Only one of the three returned alive. “I waited until about six in the evening. Then I heard gunshots. I was terrified, but I never thought they would kill him. No one deserves to die like that. It’s not just because he was my husband. He was a kind and generous man who treated everyone the same, whether they were family or strangers. He always put others before himself,” Aster said, her voice breaking with emotion. A few hours after he was taken away, Aster’s husband was found dead on the road. Their child was only two years old at the time. Another man who was killed was a security guard whose body was found near the camp; he had previously served in the defence forces and was a father of three:his wife was eight months pregnant.

As the conflict in the Amhara region enters its fourth year, civilians continue to bear the cost of the violence. People like Aster’s husband and the security guard, who were not directly involved in the fighting, have paid the ultimate price. ACLED, which monitors political violence and conflict around the world, said that since the start of the Fano insurgency in April 2023, millions of people in the Amhara region have been affected by violence. Between February and August 2026 alone, more than 8 million people were exposed to conflict. According to ACLED, the violence has affected all parts of the Amhara region, with the heaviest fighting reported in West Gojjam, North Wollo and North Shewa.

Both government forces and Fano militias have been accused of committing abuses, although government forces have been blamed for the majority of the reported violations. Observers say the government has not only failed to fulfil its legal and moral responsibility to protect the rights and safety of its citizens, but has also become a perpetrator of abuses. The region has been under a state of emergency since August 2023, with restrictions on civil rights still in place. Reports indicate that many attacks targeting civilians take place after clashes between the two sides, while a significant number of residents have also been killed by heavy weapons that missed their targets and struck civilian areas. Beyond the fighting on the front lines, there have also been targeted killings of government officials. Government forces have also targeted families whose members have joined Fano, with reports of relatives being arrested or killed because of their alleged links to the armed group.

The killing of local officials
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On 6 June 2024, Milishu Bekele, the administrator of Kewet woreda in North Shewa, was killed on the road. She was six months pregnant at the time and was among the government officials killed by insurgents in the Amhara region.

Since the outbreak of the conflict, many local officials have been forced to leave their homes and live inside administrative buildings under tight security, according to their family members. Milishu, who had worked in the health sector for 15 years, was killed while on her way to spend the night at the administrative office. Her husband said she was ambushed by two individuals he identified as Fano members. Officials in Oromia and Tigray have also been killed in attacks linked to their association with the government. ACLED’s 2026 report surveys 66 incidents of violence targeting local officials around the country.

The Fano armed group more than doubled its attacks on local officials over the past year, targeting both individuals and public institutions and weakening local administrations. Seen by armed groups as representing opposing interests, local officials have borne a heavy toll from the conflict.

The group has targeted woreda administrators, cabinet members and Prosperity Party officials. South Gondar Zone appears to have been particularly affected, with several woreda administrators and government officials killed. One source said local officials who speak out strongly against Fano during meetings are particularly likely to be targeted. The source said the group gathers information on local officials, selects those it wants to target, and sends them threatening messages warning that they will be killed. The source said more than 10 local officials he personally knew had been killed in the zone.The threats against government officials have forced many of them to work remotely or from safer locations.Officials can only travel under strict security arrangements and are often forced to spend the night in military camps for their safety. South Gondar police chief Commander Niggus Tamene said assassinations of local officials increased in 2025 and 2026.

Human rights reports indicate that government security forces have subjected the families of Fano members and civilians accused of supporting the group to harassment, threats, arrest, property seizures, killings and other abuses.

In August 2024, in Dejen town, six-month-pregnant Nitsuh Mekonen, whose husband had been accused of being a Fano member, was taken from a police station along with her mother-in-law. Both women were later killed, according to relatives. Family members said Nitsuh and five other relatives, including children, had been arrested in an attempt to pressure her husband to return.

ACLED data show that fighting between the two sides accounted for about 80% of conflict events recorded in the Amhara region over the past three years, highlighting the scale and spread of the violence. More than eight million people have been exposed to conflict.

The conflict in the region tends to intensify during military operations and then subside. ACLED senior analyst Jalale Getachew Birru said these operations can trigger a sharp increase in clashes, often lasting for two weeks or even a month, before the fighting declines. He said the clashes are not confined to battlefields but often take place in villages where people live, making the human toll particularly heavy.

An excerpt from a longer report published by BBC Amharic.