Several rebel groups fighting the Ethiopian government have announced a new alliance to remove the administration in Addis Ababa.
The coalition, named Alliance for Survival, brings together the Fano militia in Amhara, Oromo Liberation Army, OLA, Tigray Peoples Liberation Front, TPLF, and four other groups from Somali, Afar and Benishangul-Gumuz regions.
The seven groups accuse Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government of presiding over “war, genocide, mass destruction and utter poverty” and warn that Ethiopia risks disintegration.
Spokesperson for the government, Billene Seyoum, said the groups had already been collaborating, Reuters reports.
Ethiopia has faced years of armed conflict in Oromia and Amhara, its most populous states, and renewed tensions in Tigray where a two-year civil war killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions before an African Union peace deal in 2022. Both sides have since accused each other of violating the deal.
The new alliance covers six of Ethiopia’s 12 regional states, largely structured along ethnic lines, a system that grants autonomy but also fuels rivalry in a country with over 80 ethnic groups.
Some members of the coalition previously fought each other. Fano fought alongside federal forces against the TPLF during the Tigray war before turning against the government less than a year later after refusing to disarm.
Analyst Edward Bach of Verisk Maplecroft told AFP the groups were “unlikely to share weapons… as your ally today can be your enemy tomorrow.”
Spokesman for the Ogaden National Liberation Front, ONLF, Abdikadir Addaani Hirmooge, said the groups want to unite divided communities.
“Our objective is for the communities to have democracy and to exercise their right to self determination, to genuinely govern themselves,” he told the BBC, adding that government had failed to respect a 2018 peace deal in the Somali region.
The government has been fighting the OLA since 2018. The announcement comes months after reports of an alleged alliance between the TPLF and Eritrea.
Abiy said in July he had faith in Ethiopia’s defence.
“Even if others were added, we do not have an iota of fear regarding Ethiopia’s sovereignty,” he told lawmakers.
The country held a general election in June where Abiy’s Prosperity Party retained its parliamentary majority, though the poll was marred by conflict, allegations of repression and low opposition participation. Fano and OLA rejected the outcome, while Tigray and its six million people were excluded from the vote.
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