Amhara Fano and Tigray TPLF join forces in new anti-government coalition
Fano leader Zemene Kassie announced that the Amhara insurgent umbrella has allied with the TPLF and six other groups to oppose Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government.
Zemene Kassie, head of the Amhara-based Fano insurgency, revealed that his forces will join a coalition of seven anti-Abiy groups, including the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, Gumuz, Oromo, Berta and Somali militias. This partnership is striking because Fano and the TPLF were bitter foes during the 2020-2022 war, yet both now share the goal of toppling the federal government. Recent weeks have seen escalations on both fronts: Fano captured strategic towns such as Robit and Aradum and seized the Waja-Kobo highway, while Tigray suffered drone attacks on residential areas in Mekelle, injuring civilians.
The alliance builds on May’s Port Sudan meeting that brought together TPLF hardliners, Fano representatives and the ONLF, creating a coordinated opposition platform. Meanwhile, Ethiopia’s constitutional debate over Article 39 and moves toward a presidential system heighten the stakes, and regional powers monitor the conflict’s potential to reshape security across Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea.
