Ethiopia rebels form alliance against government

Ethiopia’s rebel Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) says it has agreed a military alliance with Tigrayan forces from the north of the country to fight the government.

The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has not made a statement on the pact but a spokesperson for the group confirmed the agreement to the Bloomberg news agency.

The government designated both groups as terror organisations in May.

An alliance between the OLA and Tigrayan forces could put further pressure on Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

The government has not only had to battle Tigrayan forces – it’s also facing a series of conflicts in different parts of the country.

The OLA, which is pushing for the self-determination of the Oromo people, has had limited military successes, but it’s made parts of the region very unstable.

Most of the internal conflicts in Ethiopia have been isolated and based on local grievances – by forming an alliance the OLA and Tigrayan forces appear to be attempting to change that.

Recently, the federal government has suffered a series of defeats in northern Ethiopia losing territory to Tigrayan fighters.

It suspended a unilateral ceasefire and called on the federal army and its allies to end the destruction caused by the TPLF once and for all.

There are increasing concerns about Ethiopian unity as the conflict in the northern Tigray region escalates.

The nine-month-long war between Tigrayan rebel forces and the Ethiopian army and its allies has been mostly contained in Tigray itself.

But the fighting is spreading into the neighbouring regions of Amhara and Afar.

This is off the back of Tigrayan forces making significant territorial gains, including capturing the regional capital, Mekelle, in June after Ethiopian troops withdrew and the government declared a unilateral ceasefire.

It is a sign that the Tigray crisis is getting worse, but this is by no means the only fighting happening right now in Ethiopia.

It is the second-most populous state in Africa with a history of ethnic tensions. In 1994, a new constitution was introduced which created a series of ethnically based regions meant to address the problem of an over-centralised state.

Until 2018, the governing coalition was dominated by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and was criticised for crushing any dissent. -BBC