The term carries a strong nationalistic connotation, harking back to fighters who defended Ethiopia during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War in the 1930s, often overlapping with the Arbegnoch.

Many faced imprisonment under the TPLF-led government before being released in 2018, returning to politics and establishing connections with local militias.

Asaminew, initially a pan-Ethiopian figure turned Amhara ethno-nationalist, had spent nearly a decade in prison before his release in 2018 under Abiy Ahmed's political reforms.

[12] During the days leading to 10 January 2019, local militias and regional forces started building trenches and preparing to attack Qemant people in Metemma.

Amnesty stated that a unit of the Amhara police special force wore insignia identifying members as Fano.

The Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) in Metemma initially refused to intervene on the grounds that they didn't have orders to do so.

[13] On 19 March 2020, clashes including gunfire took place between youths and federal security forces in Gondar and Dabat in the Amhara Region.

In public gatherings, recently appointed local administrators emphasized their firm stance against any changes to this forcefully delineated boundary.

Activists expressed frustration when federal authorities, including Abiy Ahmed, consistently labeled it as "Western Tigray."

[7] Amhara regional forces and militias soon carried out a coordinated campaign of ethnic cleansing against Tigrayans in Western Tigray.

[3][19] Later that day, as locals gathered in protest against the arrests, federal and regional forces fired into the crowd, killing an unspecified number of individuals.

[19][17][21] In April 2023, tensions between the Ethiopian government and Fano escalated following a plan to integrate the Amhara Regional Special Forces into the national army.

On 27 April, armed dissidents assassinated Girma Yeshitila, the head of the Prosperity Party in the Amhara Region.

On state television EBC, ENDF spokesperson Colonel Getnet warned that the military would take measure if Fano continued "disturbing the country’s peace".

[23][24] During the summer of 2024, an attempt to integrate Fano forces under a single leadership was made and Eskinder Nega was named head of the organization.