The Unyielding Resistance: FANO Freedom Fighters and the Struggle for Amhara’s Existence
In the rugged highlands of Ethiopia, a profound and determined struggle for existence is being waged by the Amhara people. At the heart of this resistance are the FANO freedom fighters, a formidable movement evolving from local defence units into a sophisticated force challenging the Ethiopian regime’s campaign of persecution and ethnic targeting. This comprehensive analysis delves into the pivotal operations and unwavering spirit defining this conflict, from the decisive neutralisation of the traitor Burqa Gurmes in Merhabete by the Nadew Division to the heroic ten-hour stand of veteran Fano Beliko in Menz Guasa. We explore the strategic clinical strikes, the critical importance of community-backed intelligence, and the growth of the movement through initiatives like the Asrat Woldyes Brigade’s training programmes. Furthermore, we expose the regime’s desperate tactics, including the use of human shields in Akremit and its collaboration with turncoats, contrasting its moral bankruptcy with the disciplined legitimacy of the Amhara resistance. This is not merely a military conflict; it is a fight for dignity, identity, and the very right to self-determination—a struggle where victory, though hard-won, is deemed inevitable by those who carry its flame.
A Strike for Justice: Tyrant’s Henchman Neutralised in Merhabete
In the rolling hills of Merhabete, where the spirit of Ethiopian resistance has been forged through generations, a decisive blow was struck for the people yesterday. The long arm of justice, wielded by the courageous freedom fighters of the Afabha South Amhara Region’s Asaminew Ez Nadew Division, finally located its target in the kebele of Ramesht Workaba, the reign of terror inflicted by the regime’s leading bandit militia, Burqa Gurmes, was brought to an irrevocable end.
This is not merely a report of a military engagement; it is a testament to the unwavering resolve of a people who refuse to be broken. It is a story of betrayal, redemption, and the relentless pursuit of freedom against a brutal occupying force. The struggle for the very existence of the Amhara people continues, and yesterday’s action marks a significant victory in that righteous campaign.
Here are the key points that outline the significance of this event and the broader context of our struggle:
The Viper in Our Bosom: A Betrayal Forged in Cowardice
The case of the turncoat Burqa Gurmes is a tale as old as struggle itself, yet each time it unfolds, the sting of treachery cuts as deeply as the first time. To understand the profound gravity of his betrayal, one must first appreciate the sacred trust he was initially granted. He was not some distant oppressor imported from another land; he was one of us. He broke bread with us, shared in our hopes, and learned the cause of the people from within the very heart of our old organisation. His betrayal, therefore, is not merely a tactical loss but a deep, personal wound to the spirit of the resistance.
There is an Amharic adage that speaks directly to this poison: “ውሀ አጥማቂውን ገብቶ ያጠፋዋል” (Wiha at’imakīwini gebito yat’efawali) – “The water destroys the very channel that carries it.” Burqa Gurmes was once a channel for the people’s hopes. He carried the lifeblood of our cause—its intelligence, its networks, its secrets. He knew the safe houses, the covert signals, the identities of silent patriots who risked everything to supply a handful of injera to a hungry freedom fighter. He learned the topography of our resolve, not as an observer, but as a participant sworn to protect it.
This intimate knowledge is what transformed him from a simple defector into a lethal viper. A foreign soldier does not know the hidden paths through the highlands that a shepherd boy would. A regime official from Addis Ababa cannot tell the difference between a genuine farmer and a part-time militia member. But Burqa Gurmes could. His betrayal was so profound because he weaponised the very trust we had bestowed upon him. He took the lessons of liberation and perverted them into a manual for oppression.
His defection was not a sudden, ideological conversion. It was a calculated act of cowardice. When our freedom fighters began their rightful and irrevocable campaign against the regime’s other mercenary informants, Burqa did not feel pride. He did not feel the momentum of justice. He felt fear. The cold, gripping fear of a man who realises his allegiances are for sale and his time may be up. He saw the strength of the people’s wrath and, rather than facing the judgement he perhaps knew he deserved, he scurried to the enemy for protection. He traded his soul for the false security of a regime escort and the title of ‘paymaster’, becoming a slave to the very forces he once vowed to dismantle.
In doing so, he became the most dangerous kind of enemy: the kind who knows where you sleep. His operations with the OPDO forces were not random acts of violence; they were precise, informed, and devastatingly effective hunts based on insider knowledge. Every arrest he made, every home he raided, every patriot he detained was a betrayal that echoed through the communities of Merhabete. He was the embodiment of the channel destroying itself, a poison flowing back to its source.Therefore, his neutralisation was not an act of mere vengeance. It was a critical operation of hygiene—the removal of a cancerous growth from the body of our resistance. It was the necessary severing of a poisoned limb to save the whole. The freedom fighters of the Nadew Division did not just eliminate a militia leader; they excised a traitor, closed a leak, and sent a thunderous message that the walls have ears, and they listen for the whispers of betrayal. The viper in our bosom has been found and crushed, a stark reminder that while we fight the wolf at the door, we must ever be vigilant against the snake at the hearth.
The Anatomy of Betrayal: A Soul Sold for a Shield of Fear
To dissect the defection of a man like Burqa Gurmes is to understand the fundamental difference between an enemy of battle and an enemy of spirit. His was not a conversion of belief, not a moment of ideological clarity that led him to defect. Such a path, while still condemnable, would at least suggest a reasoning, however flawed, a mind engaged in a war of ideas. Burqa’s path was far more wretched, far more common among the weak-willed. His betrayal was born from the most base and corrosive of human emotions: pure, unadulterated cowardice.
There is a profound Amharic adage that cuts to the heart of such a man’s character: “እግዜር ከፈተው በሻይጥንድ ያፈሰሰዋል” (Igzier kifetew be-shayt’ind yafesesewal) – “If God opens a path for him, he would spill it with his own urine.” This is the essence of the self-destructive coward. It is not that opportunity is seized for gain, but that even when presented with a path to salvation or honour, the inherent weakness of the individual corrupts it into something foul and futile. Burqa was presented with the righteous path of the freedom fighter, and he soiled it.
Let us examine the moment of his fracture. It was not when the regime’s shadow first fell over Amhara land. It was not during the initial hardships of resistance. It was later, when our freedom fighters began their necessary and just campaign to cleanse our communities of the regime’s informants—the silent blades at our backs. These were not acts of random violence; they were the precise, surgical removal of a parasitic class that fed on the suffering of our people, selling neighbours for cash and security for a promise.
As these informants were held to account, a chill ran down Burqa’s spine. He did not feel the warm glow of justice being served; he felt the cold sweat of self-recognition. He saw in their fates a mirror of his own potential end. He was not jolted by a sudden moral objection to the freedom fighters’ methods; he was paralysed by the terrifying understanding that his own duplicity could soon be uncovered. The regime’s money and promises suddenly seemed less like luxuries and more like a fragile shield, and he saw our strength not as the people’s victory, but as a direct threat to his own safety.
This is the critical anatomy of his betrayal: it was a selfish, reactive spasm of fear. He was not drawn to the regime’s ideology; he was fleeing from the freedom fighters’ justice. He did not join the oppressors because he believed in their cause; he joined them because he believed they were the stronger pack of wolves that would protect him from the other. He sought to hide within the machinery of tyranny, hoping its cold, metallic bulk would conceal the trembling of his hands.
In this, he became more despicable than a lifelong enemy. The enemy who believes in his cause possesses a twisted honour. But the turncoat who betrays out of fear possesses nothing. He is an empty vessel, filled only with the terror of being found out. His value to the regime was not his conviction, but his cowardice—it made him pliable, desperate, and eager to please his new masters by any means necessary to prove his worth and maintain his protection.
Therefore, his eventual fate was not just a tactical operation; it was a moral imperative. It was the closing of a circle that his own cowardice had drawn. The freedom fighters did not just eliminate a militia leader; they delivered a verdict. They proved that a shield forged in fear offers no real protection against the unwavering hand of justice. The path he tried to save by soiling has now been cleansed by their decisive action.A Calculary Defection: The Ledger of a Lost Soul
The defection of Burqa Gurmes was a cold, transactional act. It was not a passionate flight of ideological fancy, nor was it the rash decision of a man in a moment of blind panic. It was a deliberate, strategic calculation—a grim audit of his own life where he weighed his loyalties against his fears and found the cause of his people wanting. In the ledger of his soul, the column of self-preservation vastly outweighed the column of honour, principle, and shared struggle. His move to the enemy was a business decision, and the currency was his own skin.
This wretched calculus brings to mind an Amharic adage that perfectly encapsulates such a self-serving nature: “ለራሱ አይን ያለው ለሌላው አይን የለውም” (Lerasu ayin yalew lelelāwu ayin yellewim) – “He who has an eye only for himself, has no eye for anyone else.” Burqa Gurmes possessed a vision so narrow, so intensely focused on his own safety and gain, that he became blind to the suffering of his community, the righteousness of the cause, and the sacred bonds of comradeship. His world shrunk to a single question: “What protects me?”
Let us examine the components of his calculation:
The Asset: His profound insider knowledge of the freedom fighters’ structures, methods, and sympathisers.
The Liability: His growing fear of being exposed and facing the same irrevocable justice he saw delivered upon other informants.
The Offer: The regime’s promise of protection, a formal title (‘Paymaster’), a regular income, and an armed escort—a tangible shield for his fragility.
The Cost: His honour, his past, his people, and his very soul.
In this corrupt arithmetic, the decision was simple. The asset (his knowledge) could be sold to the highest bidder to immediately eliminate the liability (his fear) and acquire the offer (safety and status). The cost was deemed irrelevant, for it was a currency—honour—in which he no longer traded. He was not a believer switching sides; he was a mercenary selling his services to the faction he perceived as the most powerful patron, solely to ensure his own survival.
This reveals a character utterly devoid of the principles that define a true freedom fighter. Our struggle is built upon the very things he discarded: sacrifice for the collective, unwavering principle in the face of terror, and a belief in something greater than oneself. His actions prove he never truly believed in the cause; he was merely occupying a space within it until a better offer for his own security came along. The moment our movement demanded the ultimate price—courage—he cashed out.
His subsequent actions as the regime’s paymaster and chief informant in Merhabete were merely the execution of his new business plan. To prove his worth to his new masters and justify the protection they afforded him, he had to be ruthlessly efficient. Every arrest he orchestrated, every patriot he pointed out, was a down payment on his own safety. He was investing in the regime’s continued dominance because he had bet his entire life on its victory.
Therefore, his neutralisation by the Nadew Division was more than a military strike; it was a moral repossession. It was the voiding of a corrupt contract. The freedom fighters, in their decisive action, balanced the books. They demonstrated that the ledger of the people’s justice ultimately cannot be fooled by the selfish calculations of a single man. The account of betrayal was settled in full. The price for his perceived safety was, in the end, exactly what he sought to avoid, proving that a life calculated for mere survival is not a life lived at all, and a shield bought with honour will always shatter.
The Role of a Turncoat: The Oppressor’s Most Potent Weapon
Upon his defection, the regime did not merely give Burqa Gurmes sanctuary; they gave him a purpose. They understood that a traitor’s value lies not in his loyalty, which is already proven to be non-existent, but in his utility. Thus, he was installed in two roles perfectly suited to his particular perfidy: Paymaster and Key Informant. These were not passive positions; they were active, offensive weapons in the regime’s psychological war against the Amhara people, and Burqa wielded them with a viciousness designed to prove his worth to his new masters and perhaps to silence the screaming coward within himself.
There is an Amharic adage that speaks to the unique venom of a betrayal from within: “የቤት ጠላት በቤት ውስጥ ይገኛል” (Ye bet telati be bet wosit yigenyal) – “The enemy of the house is found inside the house.” A foreign soldier is a known quantity; his violence is expected, his presence an obvious invasion. But the enemy within, the turncoat, is a poison in the well. He knows where the family sleeps, where the valuables are hidden, and which words will cut the deepest. Burqa Gurmes became this enemy of the house.
His role as Paymaster was a masterstroke of psychological oppression. This was not a simple administrative task. It was the regime’s deliberate act of making him the distributor of the very blood money that funded the network of betrayal. Every birr he handed to a new informant was a transaction that deepened the corruption of his community. He was the face of the regime’s economy of treachery, making him complicit in creating more versions of himself. He was not just a beneficiary of the betrayal; he became its engine, its recruiter, and its banker, twisting poverty and fear into a weapon against his own people.
Yet, it was his role as the Key Informant that was truly devastating. The regime’s intelligence apparatus, often clumsy and foreign, was suddenly gifted with a native guide. Burqa’s knowledge was intimate and devastatingly precise. He could distinguish between a genuine farmer’s complaint and seditious grumbling. He knew which families had sons who had vanished into the night to join the freedom fighters. He knew the old networks of trust, the secret pathways, and the safe houses—the very secrets he had sworn to protect.
He did not just provide information; he provided context. This allowed the regime’s raids to shift from brutal, indiscriminate sweeps to terrifyingly precise strikes. His intelligence led to the arrest of patriots who had trusted him, the dismantling of supply lines that fed the freedom fighters, and the destruction of safe houses that had offered sanctuary. Each action he enabled was a double blow: it harmed the resistance, and it devastatingly demonstrated to the community that no one could be trusted, that the very memory of their shared struggle was now being used as a map for their oppression.In this, his betrayal was complete. The man who once promised to serve the people now used his every memory of them to serve their oppressors. He became the ultimate instrument of the regime’s strategy: to turn Amhara against Amhara, to breed paranoia where there was once solidarity, and to make every neighbour a potential threat. His role was to dismantle, brick by brick, the house of trust that a community is built upon, proving the adage true.
Therefore, the freedom fighters’ action was not merely the elimination of a man; it was the dismantling of a key node in the regime’s intelligence machine. It was the silencing of a voice that was guiding the enemy’s hand. It was a necessary act of purification—a reclaiming of the people’s memory and trust from the clutches of the one who had so vilely abused it. By cutting out this enemy within, the Nadew Division did not just win a battle; they began the arduous task of healing the house from the sickness he had spread.
An Instrument of Oppression: The Traitor’s Hand on the Lever of Power
To call Burqa Gurmes merely an informant is to profoundly underestimate the chilling efficiency of his betrayal. He was not a passive source whispering secrets in shadowy corners; he was an active, willing, and precise instrument of oppression. His local knowledge, once a tool for liberation, was sharpened into a blade held at the throat of his own community in Merhabete. He became the living, breathing mechanism through which the abstract cruelty of the regime was made terrifyingly personal and immediate for every innocent civilian.
An old Amharic adage warns of such a danger: “የወደደህን እጅ አትጥለው – ከጠላህት እጅ ግን አትድን” (Yawededihini ej atiṭlew – keṭelahut ej gin atidin) – “Don’t throw away the hand that loves you – but never escape from the hand that hates you.” The people of Merhabete had extended a hand of trust to Burqa, believing him to be one of their own. He did not just throw that hand away; he seized it, twisted it, and used its very familiarity to trap them. The community now found itself in the grip of a hand it knew intimately, a hand that now hated it with the ferocity of a convert seeking favour.
His direct responsibility for the arbitrary arrest and detention of innocents was the core of his utility to the regime. A foreign soldier from the OPDO or federal forces might round up a dozen random young men from a village square—a blunt act of terror. But Burqa’s terror was surgical. His oppression was intelligent. He could:
Settle Old Scores: He could point to a personal rival or a family with whom he had a dispute, labelling them “Fano sympathisers” and watching as the regime’s security apparatus descended upon them, thus wielding the state’s violence for his own petty vendettas.
Target True Patriots: With his insider knowledge, he could identify the true silent supporters of the freedom fighters—the farmer who provided grain, the mother who offered shelter, the teacher who spread the word. His intelligence transformed their quiet courage into a death sentence.
Create Paranoia: The arbitrary nature of his actions was a weapon in itself. When people could not discern a pattern—when a devout elder known for his peacefulness was dragged from his home alongside a known troublemaker—it bred a pervasive, crippling fear. No one knew who would be next, because the selections were not based on evidence, but on the whims and memories of a single, vindictive turncoat.
The suffering he inflicted was multifaceted. It was not just the physical torture of detention, which was bad enough. It was the economic devastation of a primary breadwinner disappearing. It was the social stigma inflicted upon a family whose name was now smeared by association. It was the psychological torment of not knowing if a son, a father, or a brother was alive in some hidden dungeon, all on the word of a man they once shared coffee with.
He served as the regime’s most critical local guide, aiding their security apparatus by separating the community from its protectors. Every arrest based on his information was an attempt to dismantle the ecosystem of resistance piece by piece, draining the sea to isolate the freedom fighters. He provided the names, the addresses, the relationships, and the histories that allowed an external occupying force to operate with devastating internal efficiency.
Therefore, the action taken by the freedom fighters of the Nadew Division was far more than the elimination of a threat. It was the disarming of a precise instrument of torture. It was the severing of the nerve centre that connected the regime’s brutal fist to the community’s most vulnerable points. By removing him, they did not just avenge those he had wronged; they protectively encircled every potential future victim in Merhabete. They sent an unequivocal message: that those who choose to become the hand that hates their own people will find that the people, in their righteous fury, possess the strength to break it.A Collaborative Effort with Occupiers: The Fusion of Betrayal and Tyranny
The treachery of Burqa Gurmes did not exist in a vacuum. His individual act of cowardice was merely the first step in a far more sinister integration. To fully grasp the depth of his betrayal, one must understand that he did not simply flee to the enemy; he was actively absorbed into their machinery, becoming a crucial cog in a system designed to dismantle our very existence. His collaboration with the OPDO defence forces was a classic strategy of occupation: the fusion of internal knowledge with external force to create an instrument of oppression that is both brutally efficient and psychologically devastating.
An Amharic adage, weathered by time and truth, speaks perfectly to this unholy alliance: “ሸንጋው ከበሬታው ጋር ተቀናቀነ” (Shenegaw keberetaw gare teqenaqene) – “The hyena has conspired with the keeper of the cattle.” The OPDO forces are the hyena—the natural, external predator whose intent is clear. But their effectiveness is limited without guidance. Burqa Gurmes became the treacherous keeper, the one entrusted with safeguarding the community, who instead unlocks the gate, points out the fattest calves, and guides the jaws of the beast to their throats. Together, they formed a perfect, deadly conspiracy against the people.
This collaboration was a deliberate, strategic merger by the regime:
Legitimising the Illegitimate: By integrating a local Amhara figure like Burqa into their ranks, the OPDO and the regime sought to cloak their ethnicised aggression in a false veil of local consent. They could claim, however thinly, that they were not an occupying force but were merely “assisting” a local faction in maintaining order. Burqa was their prop in this political theatre.
Bridging the Knowledge Gap: The OPDO forces, often comprised of outsiders with little understanding of Merhabete’s social fabric, were blind men swinging clubs. Burqa became their sight. He provided the cultural and social translation, telling them not just who to target, but how to target them—which families were influential, which rumours to believe, and how to apply pressure to break the community’s spirit.
Operational Efficiency: Acting alone, Burqa was a informant. Acting within the OPDO structure, he became a force multiplier. He didn’t just provide information; he led the raids. He sat in on interrogations, using his familiar face to disorient and demoralise detainees. His presence made the OPDO’s operations infinitely more effective, transforming them from a blunt instrument into a scalpel wielded with malicious intent.
This “hand-in-glove” cooperation meant that every atrocity committed had two authors: the OPDO’s hand that held the weapon, and Burqa’s hand that pointed it. He was not a passive observer but an active participant in the hunt. He walked alongside them through his own homeland, stifling dissent not from a distance, but up close, looking into the eyes of those he betrayed. This was the ultimate violation—using his belonging to destroy the very community that fostered it.
For the freedom fighters, this collaboration made him a primary strategic target. Neutralising him was not just about punishing a traitor; it was about decapitating a key command-and-control node within the enemy’s structure. It was about blinding the hyena once more and reclaiming the integrity of the cattle keeper’s role for the people.His elimination by the Nadew Division was a decisive strike against this fused enemy. It was a message that resonates far beyond one man’s fate: that any who would willingly become the keeper of the hyenas will share their fate. The conspiracy is broken. The people see clearly that the struggle is not merely against an external force, but against the internal enablers who empower it. And we will fight both with equal resolve, for our existence and our freedom depend on it.
A False Sense of Security: The Regime’s Gilded Cage
The regime, in its cynical understanding of human nature, understood that a tool as valuable and as brittle as Burqa Gurmes required a specific kind of maintenance. It was not enough to simply pay him; they had to armour him against the inevitable consequences of his betrayal. The provision of a permanent armed escort was this armour—a calculated gesture designed not only for his physical protection but, more importantly, to construct a psychological prison of perceived invincibility around him. This escort was the cornerstone of a carefully crafted illusion: the belief that he was untouchable, that the regime’s power was an impenetrable shield, and that the long arm of the people’s justice could be severed by the barrels of his minders’ rifles.
This dangerous fallacy brings to mind a poignant Amharic adage: “የሰው ጥጋብ እስከ አፍ ድረስ” (Yesew ṭigab eska af dres) – “A person’s protection lasts only as far as the mouth.” It is a profound warning that external safeguards are fleeting and superficial; true security cannot be granted by others—it must be built upon a foundation of honour and righteousness. The regime offered Burqa protection for his body, but in doing so, they severed his connection to the community, the only true source of lasting safety. He was protected from the people, and in that, he became utterly vulnerable to the regime’s whims.
Let us dissect the strategic purpose of this “gilded cage”:
A Reward and a Incentive: The armed escort was a very public symbol of status and favour. It was a performance for other potential collaborators, demonstrating the luxurious protection and high value the regime placed on those willing to sell out their own. It was designed to make betrayal look profitable and safe.
A Psychological Weapon: For Burqa himself, the constant presence of armed guards served to reinforce his decision constantly. It validated his fear and fed his ego. Every time he walked through Merhabete surrounded by this show of force, it was a message to himself: “I was right to be afraid, and I am right to be protected. They are strong, and I am now part of that strength.” It fostered a toxic arrogance, blinding him to his own vulnerability.
A Physical Tether: The escort also ensured he remained on a short leash. He was never truly free. These guards were his protectors but also his wardens, ensuring his continued loyalty and monitoring his movements. He had exchanged the freedom of his conscience for the gilded confinement of a collaborator.
An Illusion of Power: The regime sought to project its power through him. By making him appear untouchable, they aimed to make their occupation seem inevitable and unassailable. If they could protect their most hated quisling in the very heart of the resistance, what did that say about their strength?
However, this entire edifice was built on the regime’s arrogance and a fundamental misreading of the resolve of the Amhara freedom fighters. The escort was a challenge, not a solution. It did not make Burqa untouchable; it simply made him a higher-value target and defined the parameters of the operation required to reach him.
The freedom fighters of the Nadew Division saw through this illusion. They understood that the regime’s protection was a brittle shell. Their meticulous planning and patient intelligence gathering were dedicated to one purpose: finding the crack in that shell. They knew that no number of escorts could ultimately protect a man who had made himself an enemy of his own people. The adage proved true: the regime’s protection lasted only “as far as the mouth”—it was a promise that evaporated the moment the freedom fighters’ will was executed with precision.His neutralisation, therefore, was not just the defeat of a man, but the shattering of a core pillar of the regime’s strategy. It proved that their power is a façade, their promises are empty, and their protection is a lie. The gilded cage is not impregnable. It sent a thunderous message to all collaborators: the regime cannot save you. Your escorts are merely future witnesses to your demise. The justice of the people, once set in motion, is a force that cannot be barricaded against with mere rifles. It is inevitable.
The Decisive Operation: The Net Closes Where the Prey Feels Safest
The neutralisation of Burqa Gurmes was not a reckless act of violence; it was the culmination of a meticulous, patient, and intelligence-driven campaign by the freedom fighters of the Nadew Division. It was a surgical strike, precisely calibrated to exploit the one vulnerability that no amount of regime protection could ever truly shield: his own human need for connection. The operation unfolded at his family home in Ramesht Workaba Kebele, a location chosen not by chance, but because it represented the ultimate moment of psychological vulnerability—where the traitor, surrounded by the echoes of his own past, believed himself to be safe among his own.
This strategy resonates with a timeless Amharic adage that speaks to the inevitability of justice: “የተሰወረ ጥጃ በቅሎ ቤት ያልፋል” (Yetesewere ṭija beqilo bet yalfal) – “A hare that is being chased will eventually pass by its own burrow.” No matter how far a fugitive runs, their path will always circle back to a place of perceived sanctuary. The freedom fighters, understanding this instinct, did not waste energy chasing the hare through open fields. They patiently watched the burrow, knowing that eventually, inevitably, the urge for familiar comfort would draw him back. His family home was that burrow.
The operation was a masterclass in resistance tactics:
The Perfection of Intelligence: The Nadew Division’s network is not a formal agency, but the eyes and ears of the people themselves. It is a tapestry woven from the silent observations of farmers, the coded messages of elders, and the unwavering loyalty of patriots who move unseen. This network tracked Burqa’s movement not through technological interception, but through human intelligence—a whisper here, a confirmed sighting there. They understood his routines, his connections, and his weaknesses.
Exploiting the Vulnerability of Home: A family home is a sanctuary. It is where a man lowers his guard, where the masks of ideology and violence are set aside. For a traitor like Burqa, laden with paranoia, it was the one place he might momentarily feel a shred of genuine safety, believing that not even his enemies would violate that sacred space. This was his critical miscalculation. The freedom fighters, in their righteous cause, understand that a viper in the home must be extracted from the home; to do otherwise is to endanger the entire family.
The Element of Surprise and Precision: The operation was timed to perfection. It was not a prolonged siege that would endanger civilians or allow his escort to rally. It was a swift, decisive action that demonstrated immense discipline. The goal was not wanton destruction but the specific, irrevocable neutralisation of the target and the acquisition of his weapons. This precision is the hallmark of the freedom fighters, setting them apart from the regime’s indiscriminate brutality.
A Symbolic Act of Justice: By striking at this location, the operation carried profound symbolic weight. It demonstrated that there is no sanctuary for those who betray their blood. He was not killed on a battlefield as a soldier, but held to account in a space that represented the very community he had sold out. It was the ultimate repudiation of his choice—a message that the four walls of a house cannot protect a man from the judgement of the people whose trust he violated.
The success of this operation proves a fundamental truth of our struggle: that the regime’s power, for all its show of arms and escorts, is superficial. It is no match for the deep, organic intelligence network of a people united in purpose. The hare, for all his running, was indeed caught at his burrow.
The freedom fighters did not just eliminate a priority target; they demonstrated an unassailable moral and tactical superiority. They showed that while the regime operates through fear and transaction, the resistance moves with the patience of the land itself, the support of the people, and the unwavering certainty of justice. The net will always close, and no collaborator, no matter how well-protected, can run forever.The Warriors: Adamu, The Fighting Peasants – The Soil Rises to Defend Itself
The operation that delivered justice to the traitor Burqa Gurmes was not executed by a distant, professional army. It was carried out by the very heart and soul of the Amhara nation: the fighting peasants of the Nadew unit, known as Adamu. This name is not merely a label; it is a profound declaration of identity and origin. It echoes the resilience, the patience, and the unyielding strength of the Amhara farmer, who has now been forced to exchange his plough for a rifle to defend the homeland that nourishes him. These are not soldiers by trade; they are guardians by necessity.
This transformation is captured in a powerful Amharic adage that speaks to the inherent strength of the common people: “ብዙ ገበሬ ብዙ ማረስ” (Bizu geberē bizu mares) – “Many farmers, much threshing.” On its surface, it speaks to the collective power of community in harvest. But in this context, it reveals a deeper truth: the immense, unstoppable power that is unleashed when the farmers themselves rise up. The threshing is no longer for teff and wheat; it is for justice, separating the good grain of the nation from the poisonous chaff of treachery. The men of Adamu are this threshing force.
Who are these warriors?
Sons of the Soil: They are the tenants of the very land they defend. They know every contour of the hills in Merhabete, every hidden path, every dry riverbed not from a map, but from a lifetime of working it. This intimate knowledge makes them elusive ghosts to the occupying force and masterful strategists in their own right. The land itself is their ally.
Defenders of a Sacred Trust: Their motivation is not a salary or a political ideology handed down from Addis Ababa. It is visceral and profound: the protection of their families, their ancestral homes, their dignity, and their right to exist. They fight not for conquest, but for preservation. This grants them a moral clarity and a resolve that a conscripted soldier can never possess.
The Embodiment of Resilience: The life of an Amhara farmer is one of endurance—against drought, against poor harvests, against hardship. This ingrained resilience is now their greatest military asset. They can endure hardships that would break a regular army; they can operate with patience honed over generations waiting for rain. They are steadfast and unbreakable.
A People’s Army: The Adamu are not separate from the people; they are the people. This symbiotic relationship is the core of their strength. They are fed, hidden, and informed by the community, and in return, they are the community’s clenched fist. This makes them impervious to the counter-insurgency tactics of the regime, which seeks to separate a rebel from his support base. Here, the support base is the fighting force.
The success of the operation in Ramesht Workaba Kebele is the ultimate validation of this model of resistance. It was not a foreign special forces team that penetrated the regime’s security, but the local farmers. They moved with the silent confidence of men on their own land, striking with the fury of those defending their birthright.
The name Adamu is therefore a badge of honour and a warning. It tells the regime that they are not fighting a separate militant group, but the very essence of the Amhara people. You cannot negotiate with a army you can disband; how do you disband the soil itself? How do you defeat an enemy that, when struck down, is immediately replaced by another from the same field, from the same family, driven by the same righteous cause?
The fighting peasants of the Nadew unit have proven that when the people are the army, the struggle cannot be lost. It can only be endured until victory is harvested. The threshing floor has been prepared, and the Adamu will not rest until the work is done.A Clinical Strike: The Scalpel of Righteous Vengeance
The action against the traitor Burqa Gurmes was a definitive demonstration that the Amhara freedom fighters are not a rabble of angry men, but a disciplined, sophisticated, and highly capable force of liberation. The operation was a clinical strike—a term that evokes precision, professionalism, and devastating effectiveness. It was swift and decisive, not out of haste, but from a place of assured confidence and meticulous planning. This was not the blunt, indiscriminate violence of the regime; this was the scalpel of righteous vengeance, applied with unerring accuracy to remove a cancerous growth without harming the healthy tissue of the surrounding community.
This precise application of force brings to mind an Amharic adage that speaks to the power of focused action: “አንድን ጣፍ ለመትረድረድ ሁሉንም ጣፍ አያስፈልግም” (Andin ṭaf lemeṭiredired hulunim ṭaf aiyasifeligim) – “To peel one banana, you do not need to peel the whole bunch.” The regime operates by peeling the whole bunch—its responses are characterised by collective punishment, mass arrests, and artillery fired into town centres. In stark contrast, the freedom fighters of the Nadew Division demonstrated the discipline to peel only the single, rotten banana. Their action was focused solely on the target, minimising collateral damage and maximising moral and tactical impact.
The clinical nature of this strike reveals several critical attributes of our freedom fighters:
Superior Intelligence: A precise operation is impossible without flawless intelligence. The ability to track Burqa’s movements, know the strength of his escort, and identify the exact moment of vulnerability indicates a deep, embedded intelligence network that operates with quiet efficiency, far superior to the regime’s heavy-handed and fearful informants.
Exceptional Discipline: The fighters showed immense restraint. They did not engage in a prolonged firefight that would have risked the lives of civilians in the kebele. They did not resort to indiscriminate tactics. They moved in, executed their mission with economy of force, and withdrew, their discipline ensuring the operation’s clean success.
Advanced Operational Capability: The term “clinical” implies training, rehearsal, and a clear chain of command. This was not a spontaneous ambush; it was a planned operation that involved coordination, timing, and the seamless execution of a plan. It proves that the freedom fighters are continuously learning, adapting, and honing their skills to a professional standard.
A Moral Distinction: This precision is a powerful moral statement. It declares to the people and to the world: We fight with a purpose. We distinguish between the oppressor and the oppressed. Our violence is not wanton; it is measured and directed solely at those who deserve it. This builds immense trust and legitimacy within the population, who see themselves protected, not endangered, by the actions of their defenders.
Psychological Impact: A clinical strike is perhaps the most psychologically devastating blow that can be delivered to an occupying force. It proves that their security is a mirage. It demonstrates that the resistance can reach anywhere, at any time, and can remove key figures with impunity. It sows fear and paranoia within the ranks of the enemy and their collaborators, who must now wonder who is next and when the silent, precise blow will fall.
Therefore, the neutralisation of Burqa Gurmes was far more than the death of a single traitor. It was a showcase of evolution. It was a message etched in the language of professional warfare: the freedom fighters are not merely passionate; they are proficient. They are not just angry; they are accurate. They have transformed from a force of raw defiance into a sharpened instrument of liberation, capable of executing the most delicate and critical operations with a skill that belies their humble origins as sons of the soil. The scalpel has proven mightier than the sledgehammer.
A Material Victory: Forging Our Liberty from the Enemy’s Iron
In the arduous struggle for existence, moral victories alone cannot sustain a resistance. The courageous action of the Nadew Division’s freedom fighters yielded a result of immense practical and symbolic value: the successful capture and transfer of all Burqa Gurmes’s weapons and equipment to the organisation. This was not merely a tactical objective; it was a material victory that directly strengthens our sinews of war, transforming the instruments of our oppression into the very tools of our liberation. Each rifle, each magazine, each piece of kit is now a seed of freedom, sown back into the soil from which it was stolen.
This act of reclamation brings to mind a powerful Amharic adage that speaks to resilience and resourcefulness: “የባላጋራውን እግር ለራሱ መትረየስ” (Yabalagarawin igir lerasu metiryeyes) – “To take the leg of the one who kicks you and use it as a staff for yourself.” The regime and its proxies, like Burqa, have kicked the Amhara people relentlessly. The freedom fighters, in a stunning act of defiance, have not just stopped the kick; they have taken the very limb that delivered it and fashioned it into a support, a weapon, and a means to continue our march to freedom. This is the ultimate form of poetic justice and strategic brilliance.The significance of this material victory is multifaceted:
Logistical Empowerment: Every bullet captured is one we do not have to source through perilous supply lines. Every rifle seized is one we do not have to purchase or manufacture. This directly alleviates the immense logistical burden of waging a popular resistance, allowing scarce resources to be diverted to other critical needs like medical supplies and food.
Denial to the Enemy: The regime’s war machine, though large, is not infinite. The loss of this equipment is a tangible blow to their local operational capacity in Merhabete. They are not only denied a key operative, but also the tools he wielded. This weakens them precisely as it strengthens us, a double victory achieved in a single, clinical action.
Psychological Superiority: There is a profound demoralising effect on an enemy that sees its own weapons turned against it. It shatters the myth of their invincibility and resource monopoly. It demonstrates that the freedom fighters are not a ragged band of dissidents, but a capable force that can outthink, outmanoeuvre, and outfight them, even appropriating their own technology of violence.
Symbolic Reclamation: These weapons were purchased with blood money—funds intended to break our will. To now wield them in our defence is to cleanse them of their vile purpose. They are no longer tools of treachery but instruments of redemption. Each crack of a fired rifle that once belonged to Burqa is a repudiation of his betrayal and a reaffirmation of the people’s cause.
A Sustainable Model of Resistance: This action embodies a core strategy of people’s resistance: to be sustained by the enemy itself. We are not reliant on external patrons. Our armoury grows with every successful operation against the regime’s assets. We are, in effect, forcing the oppressor to fund and arm his own opposition.
Therefore, the transfer of this equipment is far more than a simple inventory increase. It is a cycle of empowerment. The regime’s violence, manifested in weapons given to a traitor, has been captured, neutralised, and converted by the freedom fighters into pure potential energy—energy that will now be unleashed back upon the architects of that very violence.
This is the essence of our struggle: to create something enduring and free from the shattered pieces of the tyranny that seeks to enslave us. We are forging our liberty from the enemy’s iron, and with each successful operation, the hammer of justice strikes the anvil of resistance with ever-greater force. The path to victory is paved with such material victories, each one a step closer to our inevitable triumph.Denying the Enemy: Severing the Head of the Snake in South Wollo
The neutralisation of Burqa Gurmes transcends the elimination of a single individual; it was a strategic masterstroke that crippled the operational capacity of the occupying regime across the South Wollo zone. He was not merely a militiaman; he was a critical node—a central processing unit—within the regime’s intelligence apparatus. His removal has effectively severed the head of the snake, causing paralysis, confusion, and a profound disruption to the mechanisms of oppression that have plagued our communities. This is a victory not just of arms, but of intelligence, striking at the very neural centre of the enemy’s network.
This strategic degradation of the enemy’s capability is perfectly captured by an Amharic adage: “አንድ ተሳሳች ፍሬ ሁሉንም ያበላስታል” (And tesasach firé hulunim yabelastal) – “One rotten fruit spoils the whole lot.” In the regime’s basket, Burqa was not a rotten fruit to be discarded; he was the poisonous core that contaminated and connected all the others. He was the linchpin. By removing this single, corrupted entity, the freedom fighters of the Nadew Division have not just discarded one bad apple; they have sanitised the entire basket, spoiling the regime’s intended harvest of fear and intelligence in South Wollo.
The impact of this denial is both immediate and far-reaching:
The Collapse of a Intelligence Network: A spy network is a web, and Burqa was the spider at its centre. He held the threads connecting low-level informants to the regime’s security command. With him gone, those threads are severed. Informants are now isolated, exposed, and cut off from their paymaster and handler. They are left vulnerable, unsure who to report to or if they are already compromised, rendering the entire local network inert and useless.
Blinding the Occupying Force: The OPDO and federal forces in Merhabete and beyond have been operationally blinded. They have lost their primary source of credible, hyper-local intelligence. Their raids will now revert to being indiscriminate, brutal, and inefficient—a style of oppression that only deepens the people’s hatred for them and strengthens their support for the freedom fighters. They will swing their clubs in the dark, often hitting the wrong targets.
Creating a Climate of Paranoia Among the Enemy: The regime’s collaborators and security forces are now shrouded in fear. If a well-protected, high-value asset like Burqa can be found and neutralised with such precision, then no one is safe. This sows deep paranoia and mistrust within their own ranks. They will begin to suspect each other, wondering who the freedom fighters’ next source of information might be. This internal decay is a weapon we have gifted them.
Creating a Shield for Our Communities: The most crucial outcome is the protection afforded to our people. With the intelligence pipeline severed, the arbitrary arrests, the targeted detentions, and the disappearances will drastically reduce. Families can breathe a little easier. Patriots who were on Burqa’s list are granted a reprieve. The community gains a vital window of respite from the relentless pressure of the security apparatus.
Reclaiming the Initiative: This action forces the enemy onto the back foot. Instead of planning offensive operations based on Burqa’s intelligence, they must now expend immense effort to rebuild a shattered network, recruit new sources (a near-impossible task now), and reassess the entire security situation. This gives the freedom fighters the strategic initiative, allowing us to plan our next moves while they scramble in confusion.
Therefore, this was not an act of revenge, but one of profound strategic defence. By denying the enemy this critical node, the Nadew Division has not just won a battle; they have fundamentally altered the battlefield in favour of the people. They have dismantled an engine of oppression and in its place, created a space for our communities to breathe, regroup, and continue the struggle with renewed vigour. The spider is dead, and his web now lies in tatters, a testament to the precision and foresight of those who fight for our existence.
A Message to Other Collaborators: The Long Arm of the People’s Justice
The operation against Burqa Gurmes resonates far beyond the rocky hills of Ramesht Workaba Kebele. It echoes through every woreda and kebele of our occupied land, carrying a message that is as clear as it is terrifying for the enemy and those who serve them. This action was a public verdict, a performed sentence, and a stark, unequivocal warning to every individual who has considered or is already trading the blood of their kin for the regime’s pieces of silver: there is no hiding place. There is no protection sufficient. The long arm of the people’s justice will find you, no matter how deep you hide within the enemy’s bosom.
This profound truth is encapsulated in a potent Amharic adage: “ጅራቱን ያሳየው ገበሬ አገዳውን ያሳያል” (Jiratuwn yisaeyew geberē agedawin yisayal) – “The farmer who shows his finger [to accuse] will also show the stick [to punish].” The time for warnings and pointed fingers is over. The freedom fighters have now shown the stick. The accusation has been made, the evidence is irrefutable, and the punishment has been delivered with decisive force. This is the inevitable culmination for those who betray the sacred trust of their people.This message operates on multiple, critical levels:
The Illusion of Safety is Shattered: Burqa was the archetype of the ‘protected’ collaborator. He had a title, a salary, and a permanent armed escort. If the regime’s power could not save him, in his moment of perceived safety at his own home, then it cannot save anyone. This realisation is a psychological earthquake for every other informant and paymaster. Their supposed security is a lie sold to them by a regime that is itself vulnerable.
The Calculus of Betrayal is Altered: The regime recruits collaborators by offering a simple equation: gain (money, power, protection) with minimal perceived risk. The neutralisation of Burqa fundamentally alters that calculation. It injects an overwhelming, undeniable risk into the decision. The potential cost—an irrevocable and public judgement—now far outweighs the tarnished silver and empty promises of the occupiers. It makes betrayal a losing proposition.
A Catalyst for Paranoia and Mistrust: Within the ranks of the collaborators, this action sows seeds of deep paranoia. They will look at each other with suspicion, wondering who will be next. They will doubt the regime’s ability to protect them. They may even begin to question their own choices, some perhaps seeking silent ways to distance themselves from their dealings or even provide information to the freedom fighters to atone for their sins—a phenomenon known as ‘double-crossing out of fear’.
Reassurance for the People: For the long-suffering masses, this action is a powerful reassurance. It demonstrates that the freedom fighters are not only resisting the external enemy, but are also actively cleansing the internal disease of collaboration. It indicates that they are listening, that they know who the traitors are, and that they possess the will and the capability to deliver justice. This strengthens the sacred bond between the people and their defenders.
The message is not one of indiscriminate threat; it is one of precise and inevitable accountability. It draws a clear line in the soil of our homeland: stand with your people, or stand against them and face the consequences. There is no middle ground.
The freedom fighters are not just military operatives; they are the instruments of the people’s collective will. They are the farmers who have now shown the stick. To those who have chosen the path of betrayal, the message is simple: you can feel the wind of that stick coming. It is only a matter of time before it finds its mark. Your choice now is not whether you will be held to account, but how you will meet that judgement when it arrives. The ledger is kept, and every debt to the people will be paid in full.
Our existence is in our arms. The struggle continues.
A Message of Strength to the People: You Are Not Forgotten
For the long-suffering residents of Merhabete, who have endured the twin tyrannies of a foreign occupying force and the intimate betrayal of their own kin, the action against Burqa Gurmes was far more than a military operation. It was a beacon of hope cast into a deepening night. It was a powerful, unequivocal sign that they have not been abandoned, that their silent suffering has been witnessed, and that the freedom fighters are not a distant rumour but an active, potent force, meticulously dismantling the very machinery of their oppression, piece by piece.
This profound reassurance calls to mind a fundamental Amharic adage that speaks to the covenant between the people and their protectors: “ወገን ያልረሳው ወገን ይገኛል” (Wegen yalerasaw wegen yigenyal) – “The kin who does not forget his kin, will find his kin.” The freedom fighters are the kin who have not forgotten. They have journeyed back into the heart of the darkness in Merhabete to find their people, to demonstrate that the bonds of blood and shared destiny are stronger than the regime’s walls of fear and betrayal. This action was the proof of that sacred, unbreakable connection.
The message conveyed is multi-layered and deeply psychological:
An End to Isolation: Under the boot of oppression, communities can feel utterly alone, believing their plight is ignored by the outside world and even by their own resistance. This operation shatters that isolating narrative. It screams to Merhabete: We see you. We know your pain. We are here with you. This shatters the sense of abandonment the regime seeks to cultivate.
The Reassurance of Agency: The regime works to convince people that resistance is futile, that its power is absolute and its collaborators untouchable. By taking down a figure as protected and feared as Burqa, the freedom fighters restore a sense of agency to the people. They demonstrate that the oppressor’s power is a façade, that it can be challenged, and that it can be broken. This transforms the people from passive victims into a potential audience for a victorious struggle.
Active Protection, Not Passive Promise: The message is not “we will protect you someday.” It is “we are protecting you now.” By actively dismantling the local intelligence apparatus that has been terrorising them, the freedom fighters are providing tangible, immediate security. Every collaborator removed makes the community safer, allowing families to sleep a little easier, conversations to be a little freer, and the spirit of resistance to breathe again.
A Call to Quiet Solidarity: This action does not necessarily ask every civilian to take up arms. Instead, it invites them to take heart. It asks for their continued silent support—a plate of food left out, a suspicious stranger reported, a knowing silence kept—with renewed confidence. It tells them that their contributions, however small, are part of a winning strategy, that their sacrifices are not in vain, and that their defenders are worthy of their trust.
The neutralisation of Burqa Gurmes was, therefore, a crucial act of communication. It was a message written not on paper, but in the language of justice and power. It told the people that their cries have been heard, their patience has been honoured, and their freedom is being fought for, relentlessly and effectively.
It is a promise that the kin who do not forget their kin will always return. The sun has not set on Merhabete; a new dawn is being fought for, and this action was its first, brilliant ray of light. The struggle continues, and the people are its centre.
Our existence is in our arms. Honour to the sacrificers.
The Wider Context of Resistance: A Single Flame in a Continental Fire
The decisive action in Merhabete must never be viewed as an isolated incident. To do so would be to fundamentally misunderstand the nature of our struggle. It is, instead, a single, brilliant flame in a vast continental fire that is raging across the entirety of Amhara land. It is a deliberate and coordinated act in a broader, strategic campaign of liberation, perfectly synchronised with the victories of the Tesfa Brigade in Kesem, the unwavering resilience of our forces in Bereket, and the heroic defiance in Akremit. What unfolds in one kebele is an echo of what is being replicated a hundred times over, a testament to a resistance that is both deeply local and magnificently unified.
This interconnected struggle is perfectly described by an Amharic adage that speaks to strategic unity: “የተለያዩ ጫፎች አንድ ላይ ተ meet ላይ ይገናኛሉ” (Yatelāyayu chafoch and lay temet lay yigenyalu) – “Different tips meet together at the same point.” Our resistance may appear dispersed—a fight in Kesem, a defence in Bereket, an ambush in Merhabete—but these are merely the individual tips of a single, mighty spear. Each action, though geographically separate, is thrust toward the same heart: the heart of the occupying regime. They are all connected, coordinated, and converging on the same objective: total liberation.The operation against Burqa Gurmes gains its true significance from this wider context:
A Coordinated Strategic Design: The timing is not coincidental. While the Nadew Division was dismantling the regime’s intelligence network in South Wollo, the Tesfa Brigade was driving the forces of darkness from their stronghold in Kesem. This is no ragged insurgency; it is a calculated campaign, stretching the regime’s forces to breaking point. They cannot concentrate their power in one area without being devastatingly exposed in another.
The Multiplication of Pressure: The regime is not fighting one fire; it is trying to stamp out a thousand individual blazes that are merging into an inferno. The resilience in Bereket, where forces are surrounded but holding firm, pins down enemy troops. The victories in Akremit, where leadership targets are eliminated, decapitate their command structure. The action in Merhabete destroys their local intelligence. Together, these actions create a multi-front war that overwhelms and paralyses the occupier.
A Unifying Morale Effect: News of these victories travels on the wind. The success of the Tesfa Brigade inspires the fighters in Merhabete. The courage of those in Bereket fuels the resolve of those in Akremit. Every victory, large or small, proves that the regime is vulnerable everywhere. It creates a powerful, shared narrative of inevitability—that the tide is turning irreversibly in favour of the people.
Demonstrating a People’s War: This is the ultimate proof that our struggle is a genuine people’s war. It is not confined to one mountain range or one political party. It has erupted spontaneously and ferociously in every corner of our homeland, organically linked by a shared cause and a common enemy. The freedom fighters are not an external army but the manifestation of the people’s will in every district, every woreda, and every kebele.
Therefore, the message from Merhabete is not just about one traitor’s end. It is a report from one front line in a continental struggle. It is a declaration that the Amhara nation is rising, not in disparate fragments, but as one cohesive, determined force. The different tips of the spear are indeed meeting, and their point of convergence is the ultimate defeat of tyranny and the restoration of our dignity and self-determination.
The struggle is not everywhere. The struggle is everywhere. And victory in one place is a victory for all.
Our existence is in our united hands. The struggle continues.
The Enemy’s Desperation: The Moral Bankruptcy of a Dying Regime
The actions of the occupying regime in Akremit and across our homeland are not those of a confident and legitimate government; they are the thrashing limbs of a drowning beast, devoid of honour or strategy. Their resort to the ancient war crime of using human shields—forcibly lining up our own people as a buffer against the justice of the freedom fighters—is a revelation. It does not reveal their strength, but their ultimate moral bankruptcy and tactical desperation in the face of our effective and righteous resistance. This is an atrocity that history will not forgive, and it marks them indelibly as a force of pure evil, not fit to govern.
This descent into barbarism brings to mind a piercing Amharic adage: “አህያ በጫጩት ይገድላል” (Ahya bechaochut yigedlal) – “The donkey kills with its kicks.” The metaphor is perfect. The donkey is a beast of burden, not a noble animal of war. When cornered or enraged, it does not fight with skill or principle; it lashes out with blind, stupid, and destructive kicks, harming anything within reach—friend or foe—in a futile display of its panic. The regime is this donkey. Its kicks—the human shields, the shelling of civilians, the arbitrary arrests—are not signs of military prowess. They are the last, clumsy, and brutal acts of a regime that has lost all legitimacy and is now governed solely by a desperate will to survive.
The use of human shields in Akremit demonstrates this desperation on multiple levels:
Military Incompetence: This tactic is the absolute negation of military skill. It admits that their forces cannot stand and fight fairly against the freedom fighters on the battlefield. They lack the morale, the training, and the tactical acumen to engage our forces directly, so they hide behind the skirts of women and the vulnerable bodies of the elderly. This is the ultimate admission of military failure.
Psychological Projection: The regime, which operates through betrayal and coercion, cannot comprehend an army that is of the people and for the people. They assume that the freedom fighters will be as willing to sacrifice civilian lives as they are. This is a catastrophic miscalculation. Our strength is our moral authority, and we would never sacrifice a single innocent life for a tactical advantage. Their tactic reveals the profound chasm between their values and ours.
A Weapon of Propaganda: In their twisted logic, they create a lose-lose situation for the freedom fighters. If we hold our fire to protect the shields, they claim they have stopped our advance. If we advance regardless, they will blame us for the casualties they themselves created. This is a cynical propaganda tool, but one that is transparent to the world and to our people, who know exactly who put them in harm’s way.
The Erosion of Their Own Morale: Deep down, a soldier who is ordered to use his own countrymen as human armour knows he has lost the plot. He is no longer a soldier; he is a kidnapper and a thug. This erodes what little remains of the morale within the rank and file of the regime’s forces, breeding contempt for their own commanders and secret admiration for the principled stand of the freedom fighters.
Therefore, this atrocity, while horrifying, is a sign of profound weakness. It is the kick of the donkey. The regime is telling us, in the clearest terms possible, that they are losing. Our tactics are working. Our resistance is breaking their will and their ability to fight a conventional war.
The freedom fighters see this desperation for what it is: not a challenge to be met with equal brutality, but a reason to hold even more firmly to our principles. We will outmanoeuvre their cowardice. We will expose their crimes to the world. And we will continue to fight with the discipline and precision that protects the innocent, even when the enemy uses them as a shield.
Their desperation fuels our resolve. Their bankruptcy validates our cause. Every kick of the donkey brings the beast closer to exhaustion and collapse. The end is near for them, and their own brutal, desperate actions are proving it.Our existence is in our arms. Honour to the sacrificers.
The Growth of the Movement: Sowing the Seeds of Tomorrow’s Victory
In the midst of the relentless struggle, amidst the immediacy of combat and the urgency of defence, a profound and deliberate act of foresight is taking place. Our resistance is not solely consumed by the battles of today; it is meticulously investing in the victories of tomorrow. The recent inauguration of new forces by the Asrat Woldyes Brigade is a powerful testament to this enduring vision. Even as we fight, we train and grow. This is not a mere recruitment drive; it is the cultivation of a new generation of freedom fighters, educated equally in the art of warfare and the political conspiracies woven against the Amhara people, ensuring our struggle evolves, deepens, and remains in the most capable of hands.
This process of sustained growth amidst conflict is captured by a deeply resonant Amharic adage: “ቀስ በቀስ አበባ ይለቃል” (Qes beqes abeba yileqal) – “Little by little, the flower blooms.” Our movement is this flower. Each battle fought is a petal of resistance unfolding. Each new patriot trained is a drop of rain and a ray of sun, nurturing its growth. We understand that final victory cannot be rushed; it must be cultivated with patience, discipline, and an unwavering commitment to the future. The Asrat Woldyes Brigade is the gardener, tending to the next glorious bloom of our liberation.
The significance of this growth is multi-layered and strategic:
Beyond Bullets: The Education of the Whole Warrior: These new recruits are not taught merely how to shoot and ambush. Their curriculum is comprehensive. They are educated in military tactics to outthink the enemy on the battlefield. Crucially, they are schooled in the history and nature of the political conspiracies against the Amhara people—understanding the ideological underpinnings of the oppression they fight against. This creates a freedom fighter who is not just a soldier, but a scholar-warrior, one who fights with a rifle in one hand and a profound understanding of justice in their heart.
Ensuring Continuity and Legacy: The regime believes it can wait us out, that our resistance will fracture with time or the loss of key leaders. This inauguration proves them wrong. By systematically training new forces, we ensure the seamless continuity of our command structures and ideological purity. The spirit of resistance is not left to chance; it is formally and thoughtfully passed down, creating an unbreakable chain of command and purpose that transcends any individual.
Elevating the Struggle: This moves the conflict beyond a simple kinetic war. It becomes an ideological and intellectual struggle as well. We are building a parallel institution—a government in waiting, an army of liberation, and a school of thought—all embodied in these new ranks. This demonstrates to our people and the world that we are not merely rebels reacting to violence; we are a sophisticated movement building a future.
A Psychological Blow to the Enemy: The fact that we have the security, the space, and the organisational capacity to conduct extensive training programmes deep within our own land is a devastating message to the regime. It shows that we control the terrain, both physically and mentally. It proves that their operations have failed to disrupt our long-term planning, revealing the limits of their power and the depth of our resolve.
The inauguration ceremony itself is an act of profound defiance and hope. It is a declaration that we are so confident in our ultimate victory that we are already preparing the generation that will steward the peace. These new hands that receive weapons today are the same hands that will help rebuild tomorrow.
Therefore, the growth of the movement is the greatest guarantee of our eventual triumph. While the regime relies on forced conscription, fear, and external sponsors, our strength grows organically from the will of the people. We are not draining a swamp; we are planting a forest. Little by little, the flower blooms. And with each new patriot who takes the oath, the future of a free Amhara land becomes more vivid and more inevitable.Our existence is in our united hands. The struggle continues.
Unbreakable Spirit: The Fortress of Will That No Army Can Breach
The heroic stand of veteran Fano Beliko in Menz Guasa is not merely a story from the battlefield; it is a sacred parable for our times, a definitive testament to the unbreakable spirit that animates every true freedom fighter. For ten long hours, against a tidal wave of regime forces, this one warrior, alongside his unarmed comrades, became more than a man—he became a living fortress, an immovable object that defied the impossible and embodied the very essence of our resistance. His actions transcend military tactics; they speak to a realm of sheer will, courage, and a love for Amhara that no amount of enemy steel can ever extinguish.
This supreme sacrifice calls to mind an Amharic adage that speaks to the power of unwavering resolve: “እስከ አፍንጫው ድረስ ቢሆን እንኳን ጠላት ውሀ ውስጥ አያልፍም” (Eska afinchaw ders bihon inkuan telat wiha wosit ayalefim) – “Even if it is only up to his nose, the enemy does not cross the water.” This means that a truly determined defender, even if he is on the verge of being completely overwhelmed, can still deny passage to his foe. Veteran Beliko was this defender. The regime’s forces were the water, and he was the unyielding rock, holding the line even as the tide rose to engulf him, ensuring his comrades could escape and that the enemy’s advance was halted.
The layers of meaning in his stand define our struggle:
The Primacy of Spirit over Materiel: Beliko was outgunned, outnumbered, and surrounded. By any conventional military calculation, his situation was hopeless. Yet, he prevailed. This proves that our greatest weapon is not the rifle we carry, but the spirit with which we wield it. It is a spirit that calculates odds not in bullets, but in resolve; a spirit that measures time not in minutes, but in eternity.
The Ultimate Sacrifice for Comrades: His primary objective was not personal glory, but the salvation of his two unarmed comrades. He became the shield so they could live to fight another day. This selflessness is the bedrock of our movement. It is the absolute opposite of the regime’s cowardly use of human shields. We offer our own bodies as shields to protect our brothers; they use the bodies of the innocent to protect their own.
A Tactical Masterclass in Defiance: Those ten hours were not a passive siege. They were ten hours of relentless, active defiance. Every minute he held the regime’s forces at bay was a minute they were not raiding other villages, not hunting other patriots, not consolidating their grip. He wasted their resources, drained their morale, and fixed them in place, demonstrating that a single determined freedom fighter can strategically immobilise a vastly superior force.
A Psychological Earthquake: The psychological impact of such an act is immeasurable. For our people, it becomes a legend—a story told to fuel the fire of resistance in the heart of every young Amhara. For the enemy, it is a nightmare. It forces them to confront a terrifying question: if one man can do this, what will an entire nation of such men and women achieve? It sows a deep, unshakeable fear in their ranks.
The Embodiment of the ‘Yikuno Amlak’ Spirit: His actions harks back to the spirit of Emperor Yikuno Amlak, the founder of the Solomonic dynasty who restored Ethiopian sovereignty. It is the spirit of refusing to accept subjugation, of fighting for existence against impossible odds, and of ultimately triumphing through sheer force of will. Veteran Beliko did not just fight for ten hours; he channelled centuries of defiance into a single, glorious day.
Veteran Fano Beliko’s stand is the blueprint for our victory. It teaches us that the battle is won first in the heart and the mind, long before it is won on the field. He proved that no force of arms can ever conquer a spirit that refuses to be broken. He is the living proof that while the regime may temporarily occupy our land, they can never, ever conquer our soul.
The fortress he held that day was not made of stone and earth. It was built from honour, courage, and an unbreakable will. And that is a fortress that will stand long after the regime’s tanks have rusted to dust.
Honour to the hero, Beliko Gashaw! Our existence is in our arms. The struggle continues.
A Struggle for Existence: The Unyielding Mandate of Survival
To frame our resistance as a simple ‘war’ or ‘conflict’ is to fundamentally misunderstand the reality we are forced to endure. This is not a war we chose; it is a fight for our very existence, our dignity, and our right to determine our own future, free from persecution and ethnic targeting. The Amhara people are not combatants in a political squabble; we are a nation standing its ground against a state-sponsored project of eradication, a people defending the immutable right to be. Every action taken by our freedom fighters, from the neutralisation of a traitor in Merhabete to the heroic stand of a veteran in Menz Guasa, is an act of pure self-defence in the most profound sense.
This primal fight for survival is perfectly articulated by a foundational Amharic adage: “ማይጠጣ አፍንጫውን ያፈሳል” (Maiṭeṭa afinchawin yafasal) – “He who cannot get water to drink will wet his nostrils.” This speaks to the most basic, non-negotiable instinct of any living being: when denied the very sustenance of life, one will resort to any means, fighting with the last breath, to secure it. For the Amhara people, the water we are being denied is our security, our identity, our history, and our place in Ethiopia. The regime’s policies of ethnic targeting, its weaponisation of hunger, and its systemic persecution are an active denial of this sustenance. Our resistance, therefore, is not an option; it is the inevitable, righteous act of wetting our nostrils—of fighting with everything we have to drink from the well of our own destiny.
This struggle for existence manifests on every level:
Physical Existence: This is the most immediate battle. It is the fight against the midnight knock on the door, the arbitrary detention, the extrajudicial killing, and the displacement from ancestral lands. It is the defence of our families and communities from a machinery of violence that seeks to dismantle us, person by person, home by home. The freedom fighters are the bulwark against this physical annihilation.
Cultural and Historical Existence: The struggle is for the soul of who we are. It is a fight against the deliberate erasure of our history, the distortion of our contributions to Ethiopia, and the targeting of our language and heritage. They seek to reduce a civilisation with millennia of history to a caricature of an “oppressor,” thereby justifying our continued persecution. Our resistance is the defiant act of remembering, celebrating, and protecting our identity.
Political Existence: This is the fight for agency. It is the rejection of a political order designed to permanently relegate the Amhara people to second-class status, to deny us a genuine voice in the destiny of the nation we helped build, and to dictate our future without our consent. We are fighting for the right to self-determination within our own country, to have a say in the laws that govern us and the leaders who represent us.
Moral Existence: At its core, this is a struggle for dignity. It is the refusal to kneel, to submit, or to accept a narrative that casts us as villains in our own homeland. It is the unwavering assertion that our lives have value, our people have honour, and our future is not something to be granted by an oppressor but something to be seized by our own hands.
The freedom fighters are not aggressors; they are the manifestation of this collective will to exist. They are the clenched fist of a people who have been pushed to the precipice and have chosen to fight back rather than be pushed into the abyss. They understand, as we all do, that some things cannot be negotiated. One does not negotiate for the right to breathe. One fights for it.
This is why our resolve is unbreakable. This is why the spirit of a man like Beliko can hold for ten hours. This is why farmers become warriors and students become strategists. The cost of failure is not a political setback; it is oblivion.Therefore, every shot fired in defence, every operation executed, every traitor held to account, is a reaffirmation of a simple, sacred truth: We Are. We Will Be. And no power on earth will deny us this right.
Our existence is in our arms. The struggle continues until the last breath.
The Inevitability of Victory: The Unstoppable Tide of a People’s Will
The notion of our eventual victory is not a matter of hopeful speculation; it is a strategic certainty, a foregone conclusion written into the very fabric of this struggle. Each surgical action, each profound sacrifice, each display of unbreakable spirit is not an isolated event but a deliberate step, bringing us inexorably closer to our sacred goal. While the regime’s forces fracture under the weight of their own corruption, demoralised and scattering like dust in the wind, our resolve is tempered in the fire of injustice, emerging harder and more determined with each passing day. The arc of history bends towards justice, and we are the instrument of its bending.
This unwavering certainty is captured in a powerful Amharic adage that has guided generations through hardship: “ተጋዳላይ ያልተሸከመ ሕዝብ የለም” (Tegadalay yalteskeme hizb yellem) – “There is no people who have supported their fighter and lost.” This is the bedrock of our inevitability. The freedom fighter in the field and the people who sustain him are not two entities but one single, unstoppable force. The regime fights for a salary and out of fear; our freedom fighters fight for the very essence of their being, backed by the silent, unwavering will of millions. This symbiotic relationship between the defender and the defended is a formula for triumph that no army, however well-armed, can defeat.
The evidence for this inevitability is clear for those who dare to see:
The Enemy’s Moral and Structural Decay: The regime’s forces are demoralised because they fight for a lie. They are not liberators or defenders; they are the enforcers of a corrupt, ethnocentric agenda. They witness their leaders plundering the nation while they are sent to die in a foreign land for a cause they do not believe in. Their will is broken by the emptiness of their purpose. Stories of defections, low morale, and the need for forced conscription are the death rattles of a dying beast.
The Asymmetric Growth of Resolve: Every act of regime brutality—every burned home, every arrested youth—does not weaken us; it recruits for us. It hardens the hearts of the undecided and pours a thousand new recruits into the ranks of the resolved. Our strength is organic; it grows from the soil of our oppression. Their violence is the seed of our resistance. While their numbers dwindle through desertion, ours swell with righteous conviction.
The Strategic Mastery of the Freedom Fighters: We are not static. We learn, adapt, and evolve. From the clinical strike in Merhabete to the mass training programmes of the Asrat Woldyes Brigade, we are becoming a more sophisticated, disciplined, and effective force by the day. We fight with the agility of the wronged, while they lumber with the bureaucracy of the oppressor.
The Bankruptcy of the Regime’s Tactics: Their desperation is now their strategy. Using human shields, shelling civilians, and relying on traitors like Burqa Gurmes are the tactics of a force that has lost the ability to fight a legitimate war. They are not signs of strength but admissions of catastrophic weakness. A house built on such a rotten foundation cannot stand.
The Certainty of Historical Precedent: History offers no examples where a regime sustained solely by fear and violence has permanently subdued a people united by a genuine thirst for freedom and self-determination. From the fall of the Derg to every liberation struggle across the globe, the pattern is clear: the will of the people, once fully awakened, is an unstoppable force.
Therefore, our victory is inevitable not because we are destined for it by fate, but because we are engineering it through our unity, our sacrifice, and our superior will. The regime is not being defeated by an army; it is being erased by a tide. It is collapsing under the weight of its own contradictions and corruption, and we are the undeniable future, rising to take its place.
The path may be long and paved with sacrifice, but the destination is no longer in doubt. We are the farmers who have sown the seeds of liberty in blood and tears, and we will most assuredly reap the harvest.
Our existence is in our arms. Our victory is in our unity. The struggle continues until it is won.
In doing so, he became the most dangerous kind of enemy: the kind who knows where you sleep. His operations with the OPDO forces were not random acts of violence; they were precise, informed, and devastatingly effective hunts based on insider knowledge. Every arrest he made, every home he raided, every patriot he detained was a betrayal that echoed through the communities of Merhabete. He was the embodiment of the channel destroying itself, a poison flowing back to its source.
Therefore, his eventual fate was not just a tactical operation; it was a moral imperative. It was the closing of a circle that his own cowardice had drawn. The freedom fighters did not just eliminate a militia leader; they delivered a verdict. They proved that a shield forged in fear offers no real protection against the unwavering hand of justice. The path he tried to save by soiling has now been cleansed by their decisive action.
He did not just provide information; he provided context. This allowed the regime’s raids to shift from brutal, indiscriminate sweeps to terrifyingly precise strikes. His intelligence led to the arrest of patriots who had trusted him, the dismantling of supply lines that fed the freedom fighters, and the destruction of safe houses that had offered sanctuary. Each action he enabled was a double blow: it harmed the resistance, and it devastatingly demonstrated to the community that no one could be trusted, that the very memory of their shared struggle was now being used as a map for their oppression.
Therefore, the action taken by the freedom fighters of the Nadew Division was far more than the elimination of a threat. It was the disarming of a precise instrument of torture. It was the severing of the nerve centre that connected the regime’s brutal fist to the community’s most vulnerable points. By removing him, they did not just avenge those he had wronged; they protectively encircled every potential future victim in Merhabete. They sent an unequivocal message: that those who choose to become the hand that hates their own people will find that the people, in their righteous fury, possess the strength to break it.
For the freedom fighters, this collaboration made him a primary strategic target. Neutralising him was not just about punishing a traitor; it was about decapitating a key command-and-control node within the enemy’s structure. It was about blinding the hyena once more and reclaiming the integrity of the cattle keeper’s role for the people.
The freedom fighters of the Nadew Division saw through this illusion. They understood that the regime’s protection was a brittle shell. Their meticulous planning and patient intelligence gathering were dedicated to one purpose: finding the crack in that shell. They knew that no number of escorts could ultimately protect a man who had made himself an enemy of his own people. The adage proved true: the regime’s protection lasted only “as far as the mouth”—it was a promise that evaporated the moment the freedom fighters’ will was executed with precision.
The freedom fighters did not just eliminate a priority target; they demonstrated an unassailable moral and tactical superiority. They showed that while the regime operates through fear and transaction, the resistance moves with the patience of the land itself, the support of the people, and the unwavering certainty of justice. The net will always close, and no collaborator, no matter how well-protected, can run forever.
The fighting peasants of the Nadew unit have proven that when the people are the army, the struggle cannot be lost. It can only be endured until victory is harvested. The threshing floor has been prepared, and the Adamu will not rest until the work is done.
This act of reclamation brings to mind a powerful Amharic adage that speaks to resilience and resourcefulness: “የባላጋራውን እግር ለራሱ መትረየስ” (Yabalagarawin igir lerasu metiryeyes) – “To take the leg of the one who kicks you and use it as a staff for yourself.” The regime and its proxies, like Burqa, have kicked the Amhara people relentlessly. The freedom fighters, in a stunning act of defiance, have not just stopped the kick; they have taken the very limb that delivered it and fashioned it into a support, a weapon, and a means to continue our march to freedom. This is the ultimate form of poetic justice and strategic brilliance.
This is the essence of our struggle: to create something enduring and free from the shattered pieces of the tyranny that seeks to enslave us. We are forging our liberty from the enemy’s iron, and with each successful operation, the hammer of justice strikes the anvil of resistance with ever-greater force. The path to victory is paved with such material victories, each one a step closer to our inevitable triumph.
This profound truth is encapsulated in a potent Amharic adage: “ጅራቱን ያሳየው ገበሬ አገዳውን ያሳያል” (Jiratuwn yisaeyew geberē agedawin yisayal) – “The farmer who shows his finger [to accuse] will also show the stick [to punish].” The time for warnings and pointed fingers is over. The freedom fighters have now shown the stick. The accusation has been made, the evidence is irrefutable, and the punishment has been delivered with decisive force. This is the inevitable culmination for those who betray the sacred trust of their people.
This interconnected struggle is perfectly described by an Amharic adage that speaks to strategic unity: “የተለያዩ ጫፎች አንድ ላይ ተ meet ላይ ይገናኛሉ” (Yatelāyayu chafoch and lay temet lay yigenyalu) – “Different tips meet together at the same point.” Our resistance may appear dispersed—a fight in Kesem, a defence in Bereket, an ambush in Merhabete—but these are merely the individual tips of a single, mighty spear. Each action, though geographically separate, is thrust toward the same heart: the heart of the occupying regime. They are all connected, coordinated, and converging on the same objective: total liberation.
Their desperation fuels our resolve. Their bankruptcy validates our cause. Every kick of the donkey brings the beast closer to exhaustion and collapse. The end is near for them, and their own brutal, desperate actions are proving it.
Therefore, the growth of the movement is the greatest guarantee of our eventual triumph. While the regime relies on forced conscription, fear, and external sponsors, our strength grows organically from the will of the people. We are not draining a swamp; we are planting a forest. Little by little, the flower blooms. And with each new patriot who takes the oath, the future of a free Amhara land becomes more vivid and more inevitable.
This is why our resolve is unbreakable. This is why the spirit of a man like Beliko can hold for ten hours. This is why farmers become warriors and students become strategists. The cost of failure is not a political setback; it is oblivion.An Answer to the Detractors: The Unassailable Legitimacy of a Just Cause
There will always be those in distant capitals and echoing halls of power who, whether through wilful ignorance or malicious intent, choose to parrot the regime’s manufactured narrative. They will dismiss us as ‘rebels without a cause,’ a mindless force of chaos. These voices, comfortable in their abstraction, will deliberately ignore the visceral evidence of our oppression: the burnt homes smouldering in Merhabete, the women brutalised by the regime’s proxies, the property stolen, and the countless souls swallowed by the darkness of mass arrests orchestrated by traitors like Burqa Gurmes. They will maintain a thunderous, convenient silence on the ultimate atrocity: the use of our own people as human shields in Akremit.
To these detractors, we offer not a plea, but a challenge. We demand they look upon the stark contrast that defines this struggle:
First, look upon the actions of your agents.
Look upon the work of Burqa Gurmes—a man who sold his own kin for a title and an escort. See the methodology of the regime: terror, collective punishment, ethnically targeted persecution, and the utter degradation of human dignity. Their cause is maintained by fear, their ranks filled by coercion, and their legacy written in the ashes of our villages and the tears of our mothers. This is the nature of the power you, through your silence or your rhetoric, choose to enable.
Then, look upon the discipline of our freedom fighters.
Observe the clinical strike of the Nadew Division, which surgically removed a cancer without harming the healthy tissue of the community. Witness the ten-hour stand of Veteran Beliko, who held his fire to save his comrades and his people. Study the training programmes of the Asrat Woldyes Brigade, educating a new generation in both tactics and the political history of their oppression. Our cause is maintained by sacrifice, our ranks filled by conviction, and our legacy is being written in the reclamation of our dignity and the defence of our innocent.
This dichotomy reveals everything. Our restraint is our testimony. Our precision is our principle.
An Amharic adage speaks directly to this refusal to be swayed by false narratives: “ውሸት እግር የለውም” (Wishét igir yellew) – “A lie has no leg to stand on.” The regime’s narrative is a lie. It is a fragile construct that collapses under the slightest scrutiny of fact. It cannot walk through the burnt fields of Amhara or stand before the graves of the innocent. It has no foundation. Our truth, however, stands upon the unshakable ground of lived experience and witnessed atrocity. It has the legs to walk from kebele to kebele, and the strength to carry the weight of our justified resistance.
Our legitimacy, therefore, is not granted by the recognition of foreign capitals or the approval of commentators. It is earned daily and granted to us by the only authority that matters: the people we protect.
It is the silent gratitude of a family that sleeps knowing a predator has been removed from their midst. It is the nodded respect of an elder who sees that the young have taken up the burden of defence. It is the unwavering support of a nation that provides food, shelter, and intelligence to its defenders, not out of fear, but out of a shared commitment to a just cause.
Our cause is just because it is one of self-defence. Our methods are legitimate because they are disciplined and targeted. Our right to resist is inherent and non-negotiable.
So let the detractors speak their lies in their comfortable rooms. They are not judges of our cause; they are merely witnesses to their own complicity. Our legitimacy is not diminished by their slander; it is amplified by their hypocrisy. We answer to a higher court: the court of history, and the people of Amhara, whose verdict is already clear.
We are not rebels without a cause. We are a people armed with the greatest cause of all: the defence of our very existence.
In Conclusion: The Unbroken Covenant
The neutralisation of the traitor Burqa Gurmes is far more than a tactical report; it is a significant chapter in the long and unbroken history of Amhara resistance. It serves as an indelible testament to a fundamental law of our struggle: that no individual, no matter how deeply they hide behind the regime’s titles, weapons, or false promises, can ultimately escape the righteous judgement of the people they have betrayed. The operation in Ramesht Workaba Kebele was that judgement, delivered not by a court in Addis Ababa, but by the very soil of Merhabete itself, speaking through the unwavering hands of its defenders.
The struggle is arduous, and the sacrifices are great—a truth known all too well by the mothers who mourn and the children who have lost their fathers. Yet, the flame of freedom, once lit by the spark of injustice, cannot be extinguished by the winds of tyranny. It may be forced to flicker, to burn low and hidden for a time, but it will always find the oxygen to roar back to life, fuelled by an unyielding will to exist.
This moment crystallises our path forward. The fighting peasants of Adamu have shown the way with their resolve. The heroes of Akremit and Kesem have shown their valour against impossible odds. The new recruits of the Asrat Woldyes Brigade, educated and prepared, represent the enlightened future of our cause. Together, from the highlands of Merhabete to the ancient lands of Menz, from the fierce battles in Kesem to the steadfastness in Kamal Qela, the Amhara people are not merely protesting; we are rising. We are rising as one cohesive, determined force.
An Amharic adage perfectly captures this unity of purpose and its inevitable conclusion: “የብርቅዬ ጅራት አንድ ሆኖ ቢመታ ጣይም ተሸናፊ ይሆናል” (Yebirqiyye jirat and hono bimeta ṭayim teshenafi yihonal) – “If the fingers of the Birqiyye (a thorny plant) unite to strike, even the one who throws it will be defeated.” We are the fingers of the Birqiyye. For too long, we have been picked off one by one. Now, we are uniting, striking back with the combined force of our people, and we will ultimately defeat the very architects of our oppression.
Therefore, let this action be a message to friend and foe alike. To our people: take heart, for your protectors are vigilant and your cause is advancing. To the regime and its collaborators: know that your time is ending, and your reckoning draws near.
Our existence is in our arms. The struggle continues. Victory is inevitable.
Ethiopia Autonomous media
Ethiopia Autonomous Media
