Editor’s Note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com
Makonnen G
Ethiopia’s civil war is entering a darker, more brutal phase. For more than two years, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s forces have waged an all-out war against the Amhara people. Drones, tanks, and jets have been turned against towns and villages. Thousands have died. Millions are displaced. But the cruelty of this war reached a new and horrifying low this week.
According to reports from resistance sources, a 19-year-old Amhara fighter named Balem Wasse was captured alive after being wounded in battle. What followed, witnesses say, was not the treatment of a prisoner of war — it was deliberate, sadistic torture.
Balem Wasse had a blue tattoo on her skin that read “Amhara,” a proud personal mark of identity. The soldiers who hated Amharas targeted that symbol of pride, cutting and stripping off the section of skin where the tattoo was placed — and more. They tore away a large area of her skin while she was still alive, mutilated her breast, and left her without medical aid. She reportedly died under this brutality. Soldiers were then seen dancing over her body — a celebration of cruelty that has shaken Ethiopians far beyond the frontlines.
Balem Wasse was born in the village of Mankussa, in western Gojam. Before the war, she was a bright, hopeful student who dreamed of joining university. But everything changed as Abiy Ahmed’s campaign against the Amhara intensified. She heard of thousands slaughtered in the Wolega region of Oromo. She saw millions displaced from Oromo region and from Addis Ababa. She witnessed hundreds pushed out of their jobs and small businesses. She experienced the daily humiliation of being Amhara in her own country. Amharas were rounded up and kept in filthy concentration camps, barred from entering the capital freely.
Then came the regime’s reckless decision to disarm the Amhara people — a move that many saw as the final step in a strategy not to subjugate but to eradicate. Fano fighters believe this was part of a plan to wipe out the Amhara people, echoing what many see as a historical attempt at ethnic annihilation. Faced with this reality, Balem Wasse chose to resist. She joined the Fano movement to defend her people at a time of tribulation. She fought with courage against a far better armed, brutal army until she ran out of ammunition.
Abiy Ahmed’s forces, critics say, are trained less in professional military tactics than in how to spread terror. Unlike the Fano, who say they abide by international rules of war, the government’s Oromo-led army reportedly subjects captured fighters to dehumanizing treatment. They call them ethnically degrading names, deprive them of food and medicine, and subject them to systematic torture until many prisoners die in custody.
The story of Balem Wasse is not just a story of one girl. It is a mirror of the war itself: a war where youth are crushed, where hate is weaponized, and where the world looks away. This war is not new. Since 2022, Abiy Ahmed’s government has escalated its military campaign in the Amhara region, framing it as a security operation against insurgents. In reality, entire communities have come under attack. Civilians are bombed from the air. Villages are raided. Men, women, and children are detained, tortured, and killed. The resistance — often called Fano — continues to fight despite overwhelming military pressure. They have no tanks, no air force, no drones. Yet they have not surrendered. For them, this war is about survival.
The death of Balem Wasse has become a symbol. Her name is being spoken across communities, whispered in grief and shouted in anger. She was 19. Her death exposes the kind of war Ethiopia is trapped in — one without mercy.
Human rights organizations and international actors must urgently investigate this case and the wider pattern of atrocities committed in Amhara. Silence is complicity.
Editor’s Note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com
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Human rights organizations and international actors must urgently investigate this case and the wider pattern of atrocities committed in Amhara. Silence is complicity. Abiy Ahmed must be locked up.
1). The Jawar Anölé 2.0 (!?): Why would any Pro-Abiy person do that? How does ‘killing & mutilating’ Amara female help Abiy? Unless it is the Amara Version of the Oromo Anölé, better err on the side of caution and let justice take its course.
2). Trading in Amara’s Agony [TAG]: TAG is the hallmark of the Amara Diaspora [AD]. 70% of AD are officials/beneficiaries of the former Self-Appointed Tyrant Regimes. So, all they care about is returning to power and rule Ethiopia with impunity.
(i). Had the AD cared about Amaras, why hadn’t they airdropped 100g [10¢] bread for the famine/drought-stricken Amaras ever since the 1970s? Isn’t it their Ineptitude & Greed that made Ethiopia “The World’s Poster Child of Poverty & Famine”?
(ii). Anti-Ethiopia/Anti-Amaras/Anti-Oromos always try to pit Amaras against Oromos [or vice-versa] for self-serving purposes. If Oromos were hostile & kill Amaras, over 15 million Amaras live in Oromia [ youtu.be/IXBVqbOe9uY?t=2320 ]
(iii). Over 15 million Amaras live in Oromia & reap social benefits [education/jobs/health care/etc.]. Most are from Gojjam & Gonder [G&G]. I met no Oromo in G&G. Did Oromos invite them to Oromia or prevent them from leaving Oromia?
3). Abiy’s Government | Amara/Oromo Extremism | Domestic Terrorism [DT]:
i). Abiy’s Party/Government was elected under on-site scrutiny by AU/UN/EU/US/etc. Any armed insurrection to topple elected governments is DT! Take It – or – Leave It!
ii). Fanno [Misnomer] & OLF-IFLO [Misnomer] are waging armed insurrection with support from Egypt, EPLF/Eritrea, etc. Hence, they are Domestic Terrorists [DTs].
Compare: When ‘Fannos’ kill Ethiopian soldiers, it is Amara Heroism/Patriotism. When Ethiopian soldiers kill ‘Fannos’, it’s ‘Human Rights Violation’. The ‘OLF-IFLO’ also swears by the same Playbook! Both the ‘Fanno’ & ‘OLF-IFLO’ serve the same masters: Egypt, EPLF/Eritrea, etc. There should NEVER be any safe haven for DT & DTs in Ethiopia!