Seven Ethiopian armed groups, including forces that fought each other during the country’s 2020-2022 civil war, have announced a common alliance against the federal government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. The Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival says it aims to remove the government and establish an inclusive transitional administration, bringing together organisations from six regions.
An official of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, announced the alliance on 21 September 2026. Its members include Tigrayan forces, Amhara nationalist Fano militias, the Oromo Liberation Army, the Ogaden National Liberation Front, the Afar Revolutionary Democratic Unity Front, the Benishangul People’s Liberation Movement and the Gumuz People’s Democratic Movement.
The alliance spans Tigray, Amhara, Oromia, Afar, Benishangul-Gumuz and the Somali region. It places groups with a record of armed conflict and competing territorial and ethnic interests under a single political declaration against the federal authorities.
Amanuel Assefa, the TPLF vice president, said its members sought “to remove the regime and facilitating a transitional government”. The alliance said such a government should be inclusive and should begin a national dialogue.
The members accused Abiy’s administration of concentrating power at the centre, sidelining Ethiopia’s regions and driving the country towards disintegration. Zemene Kasse, a Fano leader, described the ruling power as a “dictatorial and genocidal regime” that is “pushing Ethiopia toward total disintegration”. The government had not responded to AFP’s request for comment on the alliance.
Amanuel said the groups had been coordinating for more than a year. The statement did not set out a timetable or strategy for the proposed removal of the government. It also left unresolved how the coalition would manage the disputes among members that have fought one another over years.
The alignment is particularly significant because the TPLF and the Amhara Fano National Movement were on opposing sides of the 2020-2022 civil war. That conflict killed some 600,000 people. Ethiopia has continued to face armed conflicts involving regional and ethnic militias since the war ended.
Tensions between federal authorities and Tigrayan forces have risen in recent months. The African Union has said that both the government and the TPLF have massed troops along the border of the northern state. The alliance announcement also follows reported skirmishes between federal and Tigrayan forces.
Elsewhere, federal forces have been fighting the Oromo Liberation Army in central Oromia since 2018. The government has designated the Oromo Liberation Army a “terrorist organisation”. Fano militias took up arms against the government in April 2023 after federal authorities moved to disarm them.
The alliance represents a broad attempt to unite armed movements that have largely pursued separate regional agendas. Its military capacity, the readiness of its constituent forces and its prospects of challenging federal forces remain unclear. The extent of its command arrangements has also not been made public.
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