SUMMARY

AFNF (Amhara Fano National Force) was a sub-group of the Fano militia, fighting the Ethiopian government in the Amhara region. Fano was not a uniform movement, but rather consisted of several geographically separate factions, each with its own leader, but with a shared overall goal. Over time these factions made numerous attempts to create a unified command structure and a single political wing and AFNF was the result of one of these efforts.

Formed on 9 May 2025, AFNF was a new merger framework, meant to bring existing militias under a single command structure. It included large Fano groups from Gojjam, Welo, Gondar and Shewa. More specifically, the main groups joining the umbrella were Gojjam Fano Command under Zemene Kassie, the so-called East Amhara Fano under Mire Wodajo (Mihretu Wodajo), the Gondar Fano Command (Amhara Fano Unity / Gondar Front) under Habte Wolde and Shewa Fano Command under Desalegn Siasbeshewa and Meketaw Mamo. Led by a 13-member central command, AFNF became the most operationally coherent umbrella during 2025. Nevertheless, unity remained partial and most real fighting power stayed with regional commanders and local cell networks. It should also be noted that not all Fano factions chose to join the umbrella. A substantial number remained on the outside, most of which were part of a competing sub-group, AFPO.

The AFNF's main areas of operation corresponded to the territories of the factions that merged into it and thus covered Gojjam, Gondar, Welo and Shewa. There is no reliable, independently verified figure for the size of the AFNF specifically, but it was generally believed that the umbrella group contained a majority of all Fano fighters (with Fano estimated to number around 20 000 in all).