Nine anti-government factions in Ethiopia are planning form an alliance, two of the groups named in an announcement seen by Reuters yesterday said, as pressure on Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed mounts, with Tigray forces advancing toward the capital.
Two of the groups, the Oromo Liberation Army and the Agaw Democratic Movement, confirmed to Reuters that the announcement was genuine.
Several of the groups have armed fighters, although it was not clear whether they all do.
Photo: AP
Asked about the new alliance, Ethiopian government spokeswoman Billene Seyoum referred reporters to a comment she posted on Twitter defending Abiy’s rule since he took office in 2018 after a wave of anti-government protests.
His party was re-elected in June.
“The opening up of the political space three years ago provided ample opportunity for contenders to settle their differences at the ballot box,” Seyoum wrote, without referring directly to the new alliance.
Spokespeople for the government and the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to requests for comment on the alliance.
African and Western nations are calling for an immediate ceasefire in Ethiopia after forces from the northern Tigray region said that they made advances toward the capital this week.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote on Twitter on Thursday: “The conflict in Ethiopia must come to an end. Peace negotiations should begin immediately without preconditions in pursuit of a ceasefire.”
The spokespeople for the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) did not respond to requests for comment on Blinken’s ceasefire call.
US senators on Thursday introduced a new sanctions bill on parties to the conflict in Ethiopia.
“This is a regional crisis that requires a coordinated and intensive international response,” US Senator Jim Risch said.
The announcement of the alliance comes during a two-day visit to Addis Ababa by US Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa Jeffrey Feltman.
On Thursday, he met African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki, as well as the Ethiopian deputy prime minister, and the ministers of defense and finance, the US Department of State said.
It was not clear whether the US envoy would meet Abiy.
Seyoum said she had no information on that.
The new alliance, called the United Front of Ethiopian Federalist and Confederalist Forces, includes the TPLF, which has been fighting the central government for a year in a war that has killed thousands of people and forced more than 2 million more from their homes.
TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda yesterday did not respond to requests for comment.
The groups would hold a signing ceremony yesterday in Washington, they said in the announcement.
The front would be formed “to reverse the harmful effects of the Abiy Ahmed rule on the peoples of Ethiopia and beyond,” the groups said.
It would be formed “in recognition of the great need to collaborate and join forces towards a safe transition in the country,” they added.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
STORM’S PATH: Kong-Rey could be the first typhoon to make landfall in Taiwan in November since Gilda in 1967. Taitung-Green Island ferry services have been halted Tropical Storm Kong-rey is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon early today and could make landfall in Taitung County between late Thursday and early Friday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, Kong-Rey was 1,030km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the nation’s southernmost point, and was moving west at 7kph. The tropical storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126 kph, CWA data showed. After landing in Taitung, the eye of the storm is forecast to move into the Taiwan Strait through central Taiwan on Friday morning, the agency said. With the storm moving
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
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