Ethiopia’s rebel Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) claims it has formed a military alliance with northern Tigrayan troops to attack the government.
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has not issued a statement about the deal, but a group spokesman verified it to the Bloomberg news agency.
Both organisations were classified as terrorist organizations by the authorities in May.
A possible coalition between the OLA and Tigrayan troops would add to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s pressure.
The government has been forced to fight not just Tigrayan forces, but also a succession of confrontations in other areas of the nation.
The OLA, which advocates for the Oromo people’s self-determination, has achieved minor military victories, but has left portions of the area very insecure.
The majority of internal Ethiopian wars have been localized and motivated by local grievances; by establishing an alliance, the OLA and Tigrayan forces seem to be trying to alter that dynamic.
Recent setbacks in northern Ethiopia have resulted in the federal government ceding territory to Tigrayan fighters.
It unilaterally terminated a truce and urged the federal army and its allies to put a stop to the TPLF’s devastation once and for all.
