Several of the rebel groups that have been fighting Ethiopian authorities in different parts of the country have announced that they have formed an alliance to overthrow the government in Addis Ababa. The alliance brings together the Fano militia in Amhara, the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and four other smaller groups in a coalition called the Alliance for Survival. The seven groups accuse Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government of presiding over “war, genocide, mass destruction, and grinding poverty,” saying Ethiopia is at risk of disintegrating. Federal authorities have not yet responded. Ethiopia has faced years of armed conflict in Oromia and Amhara, the country’s most populous states. There have also been new tensions in the northern region of Tigray, where a two-year civil war left hundreds of thousands dead and millions displaced. An African Union peace deal ended that war in 2022, but there have been fears of a return to full-scale conflict, with both sides accusing each other of violating that agreement. In addition to Oromia, Amhara and Tigray, the new alliance also includes groups based in three other regions (Ogaden, Afar and Benishangul-Gumuz), which make up half of Ethiopia’s 12 regional states. The Fano group of Amhara fought alongside federal forces during the Tigray war. However, he turned against the federal government in an armed insurgency less than a year after the war ended, after refusing government orders to disarm. The government has been fighting the OLA since 2018. The announcement of the Alliance for Survival coalition comes months after reports of an alleged alliance between the TPLF and neighboring Eritrea. Abiy responded by saying he had faith in Ethiopia’s “defensive capabilities.” “Even if others were added, we do not have one iota of fear regarding Ethiopia’s sovereignty,” he told lawmakers in July. The country held general elections in June, with Abiy’s Prosperity Party retaining its overwhelming parliamentary majority. despite the fact that the elections were overshadowed by conflict, accusations of repression and the low participation of opposition parties. The Fano and OLA rebel groups rejected the elections and their results. The Tigray region and its six million inhabitants were completely excluded from the elections.
