Seven Ethiopian rebel groups form new alliance
The groups have been active in Ethiopia's most populous regions for years and now say they will work together.
Seven Ethiopian rebel groups have formed a new alliance
Tensions have again risen in the northern Tigray region
Seven Ethiopian rebel groups say they have created an alliance aimed at removing the government in Addis Ababa and pressing for a transitional administration.
The coalition unites the Fano militia in Amhara, the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and four other smaller groupings under a bloc called Alliance for Survival.
The groups accuse Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government of overseeing "war, genocide, mass destruction, and utter poverty", and say Ethiopia is in danger of breaking apart.
Federal authorities have not yet commented.
Ethiopia has endured years of armed conflict in Oromia and Amhara, the country's most populous states.
There have also been fresh tensions in the northern Tigray region, where a two-year civil war killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions.
An African-Union peace deal brought that war to an end in 2022, but fears have persisted of a return to full-scale fighting, with both sides accusing the other of breaching the agreement.
In addition to Oromia, Amhara and Tigray, the new alliance also includes groups based in three other regions - Ogaden, Afar and Benishangul-Gumuz – meaning it spans half of Ethiopia's 12 regional states.
Amhara's Fano group fought alongside federal forces during the Tigray war.
However, less than a year after the war ended, it turned against the federal government in an armed insurgency after refusing government orders to disarm.
The government has been battling the OLA since 2018.
The announcement of the Alliance for Survival coalition comes months after reports of an alleged alliance between TPLF and neighbouring Eritrea.
Abiy replied that he had 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.
The country held a general election in June, and Abiy's Prosperity Party kept its overwhelming parliamentary majority, despite the vote being overshadowed by conflict, accusations of repression and limited participation by opposition parties.
The Fano and OLA rebel groups rejected the election and its results.
The Tigray region and its six million inhabitants were entirely excluded from the vote.