Ethiopian armed groups forge alliance against government

Former adversaries say they will settle differences as fears grow of expanding war in Ethiopia.

Seven Ethiopian armed groups announce an alliance aimed at removing the federal government [Al Jazeera]

Seven Ethiopian armed groups have formed an alliance aimed at overthrowing the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

The groups announced the alliance on Sunday, saying that they would work together to set up an inclusive transitional government.

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“We have established a joint alliance called the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival, known in short as the Alliance for Survival,” the groups said in a joint statement .

The alliance includes the Amhara Fano National Movement, a coalition of Fano factions that has fought federal forces in the Amhara region since 2023; the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which dominated Ethiopian politics for nearly three decades before Abiy took office; and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), which has fought federal forces in Oromia since 2018.

Four smaller groups – the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), the Afar Revolutionary Democratic Unity Front (Ugugumo), the Benishangul Peoples’ Liberation Movement and the Gumuz Peoples’ Democratic Movement – make up the rest.

Abiy Ahmed has served as Ethiopia’s prime minister since 2018, when he came to power promising sweeping reforms. [File: Reuters]

The groups’ leaders had been talking to form the alliance for about a year, a source close to Fano told Al Jazeera on Sunday.

The announcement comes weeks after clashes in the northern region of Tigray, one of the most serious breaches yet of a 2022 peace deal, deepened fears of a return to full-scale war.

Fighting has gripped parts of Oromia since 2018 and Amhara since 2023.

Abiy came to power in 2018 promising sweeping reforms. He freed journalists, activists and other political prisoners and revoked bans on many political parties after taking power.

But his opponents and human rights activists accuse his government of reversing those gains in recent years.

In the statement, the alliance accuses the government of imposing “dictatorial rule” that has pushed the country towards break-up.

It also says a transitional government guided by a charter would work to end the wars, protect rights and open a national dialogue.

Jaal Marroo, the OLA’s military leader, told a local broadcaster earlier this month that they had met several times before settling on the final announcement.

Zemene Kassie, the Fano leader, first publicly indicated that deals had been reached in an interview with the Swiss newspaper Le Temps, published on August 16.

The government has not publicly commented on Sunday’s announcement.

Fano fought alongside federal forces against Tigray’s fighters in the Tigray war of 2020 to 2022, which killed hundreds of thousands.

Amhara and Tigray also both claim Western Tigray, which Amhara nationalists have administered since the war ended.

Ethiopian academic Eyob Tilahun told Al Jazeera on Sunday that the competing groups had agreed to have a dialogue and form an alliance “in the best interests of the public”.

“Those allied forces believe that they all face a survival threat from the government,” Eyob said.

The 2022 peace agreement, signed in Pretoria, South Africa, ended the war between the federal government and Tigray’s forces but left disputes over disarmament and the TPLF’s legal status unresolved.

In mid-July, the TPLF declared the 2022 Pretoria peace deal “effectively dead”.

随着人们越来越担心埃塞俄比亚的战争会扩大，昔日的对手表示他们将解决分歧。

七个埃塞俄比亚武装团体宣布结盟，旨在推翻联邦政府 [半岛电视台]

七个埃塞俄比亚武装团体结成联盟，旨在推翻阿比·艾哈迈德总理的政府。

这些团体于周日宣布结盟，并表示将共同努力组建一个包容各方的过渡政府。

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“我们已经成立了一个名为‘埃塞俄比亚人民力量生存联盟’的联合联盟，简称‘生存联盟’，”这些组织在一份联合声明中表示。

该联盟包括阿姆哈拉法诺民族运动（Amhara Fano National Movement），这是一个由法诺各派系组成的联盟，自 2023 年以来一直在阿姆哈拉地区与联邦军队作战；提格雷人民解放阵线（TPLF），在阿比上台之前，该阵线主导了埃塞俄比亚政坛近三十年；以及奥罗莫解放军（OLA），自 2018 年以来一直在奥罗米亚地区与联邦军队作战。

其余部分由四个较小的团体组成，分别是奥加登民族解放阵线（ONLF）、阿法尔革命民主团结阵线（Ugugumo）、贝尼尚古勒人民解放运动和古穆兹人民民主运动。

阿比·艾哈迈德自2018年上台以来一直担任埃塞俄比亚总理，他上台时承诺进行全面改革。[图片来源：路透社]

一位接近法诺的消息人士周日告诉半岛电视台，这些团体的领导人已经就组建联盟进行了大约一年的谈判。

此前数周，北部提格雷地区发生冲突，这是迄今为止对 2022 年和平协议最严重的破坏之一，加剧了人们对全面战争卷土重来的担忧。

自 2018 年以来，奥罗米亚部分地区战乱不断；自 2023 年以来，阿姆哈拉部分地区战乱不断。

阿比于2018年上台，承诺进行全面改革。他上台后释放了记者、活动人士和其他政治犯，并取消了对许多政党的禁令。

但他的反对者和人权活动人士指责他的政府近年来逆转了这些成果。

该联盟在声明中指责政府实行“独裁统治”，将国家推向分裂的边缘。

声明还指出，一个以宪章为指导的过渡政府将致力于结束战争、保护权利并开启全国对话。

奥匈帝国解放军军事领导人贾尔·马鲁本月初告诉当地一家广播公司，他们在最终宣布这一消息之前已经会面了好几次。

法诺领导人泽梅内·卡西于 8 月 16 日在接受瑞士报纸《时代报》采访时首次公开表示已经达成协议。

政府尚未就周日的声明发表公开评论。

在 2020 年至 2022 年的提格雷战争中，法诺与联邦军队并肩作战，对抗提格雷武装，这场战争造成数十万人死亡。

阿姆哈拉人和提格雷人都声称对西提格雷地区拥有主权，自战争结束以来，该地区一直由阿姆哈拉民族主义者管理。

埃塞俄比亚学者埃约布·蒂拉洪周日告诉半岛电视台，竞争团体已同意进行对话并结成联盟，“以符合公众的最大利益”。

“这些盟军都认为，他们面临着来自政府的生存威胁，”埃约布说。

2022 年在南非比勒陀利亚签署的和平协议结束了联邦政府与提格雷武装之间的战争，但关于解除武装和提格雷人民解放阵线（TPLF）的法律地位的争议仍未得到解决。

7月中旬，提格雷人民解放阵线宣布2022年比勒陀利亚和平协议“实际上已经死亡”。