Gobe Melke (Amharic: ጎቤ መልኬ; 1947–2017), also known as Jawi and Wawa, was an Ethiopian guerrilla fighter and a former commander of the Fano militia. Melke was born in

Tsegede Tsegede () is a woreda in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. It is named after the historic province of Tsegede. Located in the Western Zone of Tigray, Tsegede is bordered on the south and west by the Amhara Region, on the northwest by Kafta Humera, and on ...

Begemder Province Begemder ( amh, በጌምድር; also known as Gondar or Gonder, alternative name borrowed from its 20th century capital Gondar) was a province in northwest Ethiopia. Etymology A plausible source for the name ''Bega'' is that the word means " ...

and was a farmer prior to his involvement in armed resistance. He later devoted his life to armed struggle after the then

EPRDF The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF; am, የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝቦች አብዮታዊ ዲሞክራሲያዊ ግንባር, translit=Ye’Ītiyop’iya Ḥizibochi Ābiyotawī Dīmokirasīyawī Ginibari) was an eth ...

government's oppression towards the people of his ethnic group, the Amhara. In July 2016, Melke led Fano when North Gonder was turned into a war zone after the Ethiopian government, deployed the national army in the region to quell anti-government protests during the

2016–2018 Ethiopian state of emergency A state of emergency was declared on 9 October 2016 by Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, after ''de facto'' taking effect the previous day. The state of emergency authorized the military to enforce security nationwide. It imposed restr ...

. He engaged in

guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or Irregular military, irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, Raid (military), raids ...

against the EPRDF government during which he killed numerous government forces, and took many

prisoner A prisoner (also known as an inmate or detainee) is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement, captivity, or forcible restraint. The term applies particularly to serving a prison sentence in a prison. ...

before being wounded in the spring of 2017. Melke was assassinated in March 2017 by an ANDM agent who happened to be his close relative. His resistance movement in Gonder was inspired by Ethiopia’s resistance against fascist Italy during Itaian East Africa and kicked off after peaceful demonstrations against the

TPLF The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF; ti, ህዝባዊ ወያነ ሓርነት ትግራይ, lit=Popular Struggle for the Freedom of Tigray), also called the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, is a left-wing ethnic nationalist paramilitar ...

's forced annexation of ethnic Amhara land west of the Tekeze River such as

Wolkait Welkait (also spelled Wolkait or Wolqayt; is a woreda which was historically part of the northern Amhara region of Gonder in Ethiopia. Following the fall of the communist Derg regime and ascension to power of the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front ...

were violently repressed by the government during the state of emergency. Gobe Melke, in an exclusive interview with ESAT, revealed that his forces worked in tandem with

Ginbot 7 Ginbot 7 is an Ethiopian opposition political organization, founded in 2008 by Andargachew Tsige and Berhanu Nega. According to their mission statement, Ginbot 7's goal is "the realization of a national political system in which government power a ...

, an armed opposition group operating out of

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

, to inflict heavy losses on government forces in November of 2016. His rebel forces are also noted as being one of the earliest and most impactful Fano militia.

References

Date of birth missing Assassinated Ethiopian people 1947 births 2017 deaths {{morecat, date=July 2022