Seven armed groups in Ethiopia, including former battlefield enemies, have announced a new alliance aimed at removing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government.
The coalition, named the Ethiopian People’s Forces Alliance for Survival, or Alliance for Survival, was announced late on Sunday, 20 September.
It brings together the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the Amhara Fano National Movement, the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), and four smaller groups from the Somali, Afar and Benishangul-Gumuz regions.
In a joint statement read by Fano leader Zemene Kassie and broadcast on Tigrayan television, the groups said they had formed the alliance to overthrow the federal government and establish an inclusive transitional government.
The groups accuse the federal government of imposing “dictatorial rule” that has pushed the country towards disintegration, and of presiding over “war, genocide, mass destruction, and utter poverty.”
The alliance is notable for uniting factions that have previously fought each other. Fano militias fought alongside federal forces against the TPLF during the 2020-2022 civil war in Tigray, which killed an estimated 600,000 people. Fano then turned against the government in 2023 after refusing orders to disarm, sparking a separate conflict in Amhara.
The federal government has been fighting the OLA in Oromia, Ethiopia’s most populous region, since 2018, and Fano in Amhara since 2023.
The new grouping spans six of Ethiopia’s 12 regional states, which are largely structured along ethnic lines under Ethiopia’s system of ethnic federalism.
Abdikadir Addaani Hirmooge, spokesman for the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), which is part of the alliance and operates in the Somali Region, told the BBC that the government had failed to respect a 2018 peace deal for the region and accused Abiy’s Prosperity Party of being an “obstacle to the people.”
Federal authorities have not yet responded to requests for comment on the alliance. However, last month an adviser to Prime Minister Abiy said any such coalition would seek to “wreak havoc” but would not be able to overthrow the federal government.
In July, Abiy said he had faith in Ethiopia’s “defensive capabilities”, telling parliament: “Even if others were added, we do not have an iota of fear regarding Ethiopia’s sovereignty.”
The announcement comes weeks after reported clashes between federal and Tigrayan forces along the Tigray border – described as one of the most serious breaches yet of the 2022 African Union-brokered peace deal that ended the Tigray war. Both sides have accused each other of violating the agreement, raising fears of a return to full-scale conflict.
Ethiopia held a general election in June, in which Abiy’s Prosperity Party retained its large parliamentary majority. The poll was rejected by Fano and the OLA, while Tigray was excluded entirely.
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