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| Africa Horn |
| Seven Ethiopian armed groups announce anti-government alliance |
| 2026-09-21 |
| ADDIS ABABA, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Seven Ethiopian armed groups, including longstanding enemies who fought on opposite sides of a 2020-2022 civil war, said they have formed an alliance aimed at overthrowing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government. The announcement of the Ethiopian Peoples' Forces Alliance for Survival brought together a geographically and ethnically diverse body of groups ranging from Tigray in the north to Somali Region in the south. Some remain at loggerheads with other members over territory and other issues. Spokespeople for Abiy and the federal government did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Last month, after reports of a possible coalition of armed groups, an adviser to Abiy said any such formation would seek to wreak havoc but would not be able to overthrow the federal government. The new alliance, announced late on Sunday, includes the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Amhara Fano National Movement. Fano, a coalition of armed groups from the Amhara region, fought in support of the federal government against the TPLF during the 2020-2022 Tigray war, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths and was marked by ethnically driven atrocities. Fano subsequently rose up against the federal government in a conflict that has killed thousands in Amhara since 2023. Many of the groups have accused the government of centralising power and marginalising the regions. The government says it has launched a national dialogue meant to address longstanding political divisions and internal conflicts. |
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