2022 North Shewa clashes

The Oromo Special Zone of Amhara region was created in the 1990s after pressure on the Ethiopian government by Oromo rights groups, who were a majority in the small part of Amhara region bordering Oromia.[1] In the North Shewa zone of Oromia, where Amharas are a sizeable minority, conflict has been rife across the two sides between Oromo and Amhara fighting for regional dominance.[2] During the Tigray War, Fano developed as an Amhara militia aiding the Ethiopian government against the Tigray People's Liberation Front, and claiming historical Tigrayan and Amhara lands as Amhara.[3] Tensions between the two groups first developed in 2018, after Amhara discontent in believing the Oromo-led Prosperity Party was not adequately supporting Amhara rights in North Shewa.[4] In 2021, four clashes were reported in Oromo Special Zone between Fano and the Oromo Liberation Army, colloquially known as OLF-Shane.[3] Large bouts of violence occurred in Ataye between the OLF and Amhara forces.

The conflict began on March 29, when alleged Fano militants attacked Oromo militants and policemen in Minjar Shenkora woreda.[5][6] The attackers then made their way through the towns of Korke and Awera Godana, which are disputed between North Shewa and East Shewa in Oromia.[4] In the attacks, 28 Oromo militiamen were killed, and 15 were injured.[7] The Korke and Awera Godana areas were then put under Ethiopian government control.[8] Amhara authorities and rights groups claimed that the Minjar Shenkora ambush occurred after OLF militants shot and killed an Ethiopian police officer.[9] The Amhara Association of America also accused OLF of capturing Awera Godana.[10] The conflict was later resolved following mediation between Amhara and Oromo leaders.[11]

The second bout of clashes broke out on April 9 on the borders of Oromia Special Zone and North Shewa.[12] While both sides traded blame for who initiated the attacks, fighting occurred in the villages of Wesen Kurkur, Mute Facha, and Tikure Wadawo in Jilye Tumuga woreda of Oromia Special Zone (OSZ).[2] In North Shewa, fighting occurred in Zembo, Addis Alem, and Negoso of Efratana Gidem woreda and Kewet in Menze Mama Midir woreda.[2] Twenty people were killed and forty-eight were injured as a result of the fighting.[2] The clashes didn't end until April 12, and by then, 3,000 residents had been displaced and 125 houses had been burned.[13] The village of Molele in Zembo kebele suffered the worst damage, and during operations by the Ethiopian Army (ENDF) to suppress the clashes and restore control over the road leading to Addis Ababa, three Amhara Special Forces soldiers were killed.[11] The Efratana Gidem woreda administrator accused the OLF-Shane, but the Jilye Tumuga woreda administrator accused Fano of the attacks.[11]

On April 18, fighting broke out near Shewa Robit and Wesen Kurkur, after Fano militants marched into the town. Oromo residents requested support from the ENDF while Fano fighters assumed the ENDF reinforcements would support them. Battles broke out between the ENDF and Fano.[14] Many residents fled to the cities of Debre Birhan and Debre Sina. While the clashes ended April 19, bodies were still being discovered in rural areas near Shewa Robit.[14][15] The provisional death toll was 10 killed, 34 injured.[14]

ENDF soldiers massacred eight civilians in Daye Wilincho on April 23, for unknown reasons.[16] Several other civilians were shot, killed, or arrested for being suspected OLF militants by ENDF soldiers and Oromia Special Forces.[16] By that point, fighting between Fano, the OLF-Shene, and the ENDF had ceased.