Ethiopia's Main Armed Groups form Alliance Against Federal Government
By Al Mayadeen English
20 Sep 2026 21:47
Seven Ethiopian armed groups, including the TPLF, Fano and OLA, announce an alliance seeking to remove the federal government and establish a transitional administration.
Seven armed groups from across Ethiopia have announced a new alliance against the federal government, bringing together forces that have previously fought separately, and, in some cases, against one another.
The announcement was made Sunday by Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) Vice President Amanuel Assefa, who said seven groups had agreed to coordinate their efforts with the stated objective of removing the federal government and facilitating a transitional administration.
“We just formed an alliance, we are collaborating with several groups and our objectives are to remove the regime and facilitating a transitional government,” Assefa told AFP.
The alliance includes Tigrayan forces, Amhara nationalist Fano militias, and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), alongside four other armed groups. Fano leader Zemene Kasse will chair the new alliance, according to Assefa.
The federal authorities had not publicly responded to the announcement at the time of the report.
Coalition brings Ethiopia's conflicts into a single framework
The announcement comes as security tensions have increased across several parts of Ethiopia, particularly in Tigray, Amhara, and Oromia.
The African Union has warned of a significant military buildup involving federal forces and the TPLF along the Tigray border, raising concerns over a possible return to large-scale fighting in the north. The 2020-2022 Tigray War resulted in an estimated 600,000 deaths, according to figures cited in the AFP report.
The emerging alliance would bring together forces involved in three of the country's most persistent armed conflicts.
"We, the peoples’ forces concerned with the survival of Ethiopia’s peoples, bear the historic responsibility of overthrowing this regime, safeguarding the survival of all nations, nationalities and peoples, and opening a new chapter," the joint statement by the groups read.
Federal forces have been fighting the OLA in Oromia since 2018. The Ethiopian government has designated the organization a “terrorist organization.”
In Amhara, Fano militias took up arms against the federal government in 2023 after Addis Ababa moved to disarm regional forces. The militias have remained active, particularly in rural areas.
The TPLF, meanwhile, fought the federal government during the devastating Tigray war before the conflict was halted by the 2022 Pretoria agreement.
"The historic mission and first objective of the peoples’ forces is to defend ourselves collectively against the devastating war declared upon us; remove Prosperity’s personalist and dictatorial system, which has endangered the survival of our peoples and the security of the country; and bring about the establishment of an inclusive transitional government guided by a transitional charter," the statement continued.
Statement issued by the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival (Alliance for Survival)
Objectives laid out by new alliance
The new alliance put out two main objectives they seek to achieve after bringing about the fall of the current Ethiopian state.
The first objective is, "To safeguard the survival of the peoples and the security of the country; stop all wars; guarantee human and democratic rights; maintain peace and security; stabilize the social and economic crisis; improve relations with neighboring countries; and restore the country’s regional and international standing."
The second is to conduct an "honest, trustworthy, fully inclusive and participatory popular and constitutional dialogue, through which decisive questions concerning the peoples and the country will be resolved with the direct participation of the peoples."
Former battlefield rivals seek common ground
The alliance faces a major contradiction: some of its members have previously been adversaries.
Fano forces fought alongside Ethiopian federal troops during the Tigray war, while disputes between Amhara and Tigrayan forces over territory remain unresolved. Western Tigray, in particular, remains contested between the two communities.
Assefa acknowledged the disputes but said the groups intended to address them through political discussions.
“We will sit at the table later to solve our problems peacefully,” he said. “We think we will be successful, we have been talking with each other for more than a year."
The formation of the alliance therefore does not necessarily resolve the political and territorial questions that have divided Ethiopia's armed and political movements.
Several-front conflict could test Addis Ababa
Kjetil Tronvoll, a regional specialist at Oslo New University College, questioned whether the coalition could sustain a campaign against a federal government that has significant military capabilities, including drones.
Describing the potential conflict as “a sacrificial war for the rebels,” Tronvoll told AFP. “I am not sure they will be able to sustain such a war.”
He nevertheless said coordination could alter the military equation if the groups establish a unified command.
“If they coordinate as a military command, it may make a difference, it is a potential four to five fronts that the government will have to deal with, it might be a challenge,” he added.
Tronvoll also questioned what political arrangement could emerge if the alliance succeeded in removing the federal government, given the different ideologies and objectives of its constituent groups.
