Seven Ethiopian rebel groups have formed a coalition to remove the federal government in Addis Ababa and establish a transitional administration.
The Alliance for Survival brings together the Fano militia in Amhara, the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and four smaller organizations.
The groups accuse Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government of presiding over “war, genocide, mass destruction and extreme poverty,” warning that Ethiopia faces the risk of disintegration.
Federal authorities had not immediately responded to the announcement.
Ethiopia has endured years of armed conflict in Oromia and Amhara, the country’s two most populous regions.
Tensions have also resurged in the northern Tigray region, where a two-year civil war killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions.
An African Union-backed peace agreement ended the conflict in 2022, but fears of a return to full-scale war persist as the former belligerents continue to accuse one another of violating the accord.
In addition to Oromia, Amhara and Tigray, the coalition includes groups based in Ogaden, Afar and Benishangul-Gumuz, bringing its reach to six of Ethiopia’s 12 regional states.
Fano fought alongside federal forces during the Tigray war.
It later turned against the government in an armed insurgency less than a year after the war ended, after rejecting federal orders to disarm.
The government has been fighting the OLA since 2018.
The coalition’s announcement followed reports alleging an alliance between the TPLF and neighboring Eritrea.
Abiy responded by expressing confidence in Ethiopia’s “defensive capabilities.”
“Even if others were added, we do not have an iota of fear regarding Ethiopia’s sovereignty,” he told lawmakers in July.
Ethiopia held a general election in June, in which Abiy’s Prosperity Party retained its overwhelming parliamentary majority despite conflict, allegations of repression and limited opposition participation.
Fano and the OLA rejected both the election and its results.
Tigray, home to about six million people, was entirely excluded from the vote.
