Seven Ethiopian armed groups, including former adversaries from the country’s 2020-2022 civil war, have announced an alliance seeking to overthrow Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government.
The Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival brings together ethnically diverse groups operating across the country, from northern Tigray to the Somali Region in the south. Several of its members remain in dispute with one another over territory and other issues.
- Advertisement -
Abiy’s spokesperson, Billene Seyoum, said the groups had been working together for some time with financial support from Ethiopia’s neighbour and historic adversary Eritrea.
“The recent announcement is only attesting (to) what the Ethiopian government has been alleging time and again,” she wrote in a text message on Monday.
Eritrea’s information minister did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Asmara has repeatedly denied similar accusations.
ALLIANCE INCLUDES FORMER FOES
Announced late on Sunday, the alliance includes the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Amhara Fano National Movement.
Fano, an umbrella coalition of armed groups from the Amhara region, fought alongside the federal government against the TPLF during the 2020-2022 Tigray war. The conflict killed hundreds of thousands of people and was marked by ethnically driven atrocities.
Fano later turned its guns on the federal government, launching an uprising in Amhara that has killed thousands since 2023.
Many of the participating groups have accused the government of concentrating power in Addis Ababa and sidelining the regions. The government says it has initiated a national dialogue to tackle the country’s longstanding political divisions and internal conflicts.
“We, the peoples’ forces concerned with the survival of Ethiopia’s peoples, bear the historic responsibility of overthrowing this regime,” said the statement, read by Fano leader Zemene Kassie and broadcast on the TPLF-controlled Tigrai TV. Several of the groups also posted it on their social media feeds.
On Monday, Ethiopia’s media regulator said news organisations were strictly prohibited from using Tigrai TV as an information source.
The Ethiopian Media Authority’s director general did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
ARMED GROUPS’ EFFORTS ‘MAY BE HAMSTRUNG’
The alliance also includes groups from the Oromia, Afar and Benishangul-Gumuz regions. Its formation follows reported clashes between federal forces and fighters in Tigray.
In May, the TPLF took back control of the region’s political administration in violation of the 2022 peace agreement that ended the Tigray war. The group accused the federal government of failing to implement the deal.
According to data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project, the Ethiopian military has conducted several drone strikes against Tigrayan forces in recent months.
The federal government has not addressed the reported strikes. The military said last week, however, that nearly 300 Tigrayan fighters had surrendered.
Magnus Taylor, an analyst at the International Crisis Group think tank, said the alliance would alarm the federal government, although its members’ ability to coordinate effectively remained uncertain.
“Attempts for its members to work together may be hamstrung by the weak nature of several of the groups, the geographical distances between them and political differences,” he told Reuters.
Writing by Aaron Ross in Nairobi; Editing by Andrew Heavens
