Addis Abeba — The Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) has described an emerging alliance among opposition armed groups in Ethiopia as a "procedural consensus," stressing that it does not constitute an agreement on substantive political questions or authorize any participating group to determine the country's political future.
News analysis reportsDiscover moreAccess Premium NewsStream History DocumentariesEthiopian city guide In a press release issued on 17 September, the OLA said it was neither involved in nor a component of the emerging alliance, but acknowledged that cooperation among opposition forces "stretching from west to east and from south to north" was taking shape.
According to the OLA, the emerging cooperation is centered on two objectives: ending confrontations among opposition forces and redirecting their efforts toward what it described as "the source of destruction" affecting the country.
The second objective, it said, is to create a broad-based transitional political opening through which Ethiopians can address their political demands through direct participation.
Follow us on WhatsApp | LinkedIn for the latest headlines
The OLA stressed that the arrangement should not be interpreted as an agreement on substantive political issues. Instead, it described it as a "procedural consensus," saying no participating party had been given a mandate to negotiate, settle or predetermine the fundamental political questions of the Ethiopian people.
"The immediate responsibility of opposition forces is therefore to create the political and security conditions in which such participation becomes possible," the OLA said.
Read Political News The OLA did not identify the opposition groups involved in the emerging cooperation or provide details on how the alliance would be structured.
Discover moreOrder Demographic ReportspoliticsAmnesty International reportsEthiopian politics analysisCurrent events summariesPoliticalEthiopian news updatesLaw and justicePolitical commentary subscription Wollega
The statement also addressed the security situation in Wollega, which the OLA described as one of the most militarily saturated areas in Ethiopia after years of conflict involving regular and irregular forces.
The OLA alleged that a small armed group claiming to operate in the name of the Amhara had initially been trained, armed and deployed by the federal government to counter the OLA during the war involving the Tigray Defense Forces (TDF) and the OLA.
According to the group, some members of the faction later broke formally from government militia structures following the outbreak of conflict in the Amhara region. The OLA alleged that the government subsequently shifted its approach and used the group to mobilize Oromo sentiment against the war in Amhara, including by attributing attacks on Oromo civilians to the faction.
Law and justice The OLA further alleged that government forces had at times ostensibly confronted the group but later withdrew in circumstances that left weapons and other resources behind. It also claimed that intelligence had been shared in ways that enabled the group to obtain money and weapons.
The allegations could not be independently verified.
The OLA also urged Amhara forces to distance themselves from the armed faction, calling on them to stop what it described as "irresponsible media briefings" concerning the group and make their position clear.
The group argued that continued association with the faction could carry political consequences for Amhara forces beyond any potential short-term military gains.
Civilian mobilization in Oromia
The OLA also accused the federal government of directing the arming and mobilization of civilians in areas of Oromia where the OLA operates.
The group said the practice was not new and dated back to at least 2021, when it alleged that similar arrangements were advanced under the stated objective of protecting Amhara civilians.
Join Diaspora Networks The OLA said the focus should not be on whether the ruling Prosperity Party (PP) has acknowledged its inability to rely indefinitely on conventional forces. Instead, it argued that the proliferation of what it called regime-backed irregular armed actors across Oromia demonstrated the government's reliance on such forces.
The OLA called on stakeholders to distinguish between the federal government and Oromo civilians in their engagements, arguing that the government should not use the Oromo population as cover for its actions.
The claims concerning civilian mobilization and government support for armed groups were not independently verified, and the statement did not provide evidence to substantiate the allegations.
In recent months, references to an emerging alliance among political and armed opposition forces have increasingly entered public discourse, with different political and security actors offering varying descriptions of its nature, structure and objectives. The term "Tsimdo" has been used by some actors to refer to emerging alignments involving Tigrayan and other opposition forces, although the composition and institutional structure of the reported alliance have not been publicly detailed in full.
Addis Standard reported on 10 September 2026 that, amid escalating tensions and renewed clashes between federal forces and Tigrayan forces, Tigray Government President and TPLF Chairman Debretsion Gebremichael (PhD) said an alliance formed with other political and opposition forces had become institutionalized and "irreversible," with its own leadership, plans and a signed agreement, according to Weyin Media.
Read Political News In an interview with Weyin Media, Debretsion said the alliance had moved beyond informal cooperation and was operating under an established structure. He said additional forces were expected to join and that further details would be made public.
"There are other alliance forces that should join," Debretsion said, adding that the alliance "has its own plan and there is a document we have signed," according to Weyin Media.
He said the alliance was not established solely to confront the Prosperity Party-led federal government, but was intended to provide a framework for cooperation beyond the immediate political and security objectives shared by its members.
"Our interests are not the same, we have our own respective interests, but at least we have one central thing that connects us," he said.
Debretsion described the alliance as having several phases, saying its initial phase centers on what he characterized as an "existential threat" shared by its members, which he said they had agreed to confront collectively.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Browse Digital Magazines He also said fundamental questions concerning Ethiopia's future political arrangement should not be predetermined by the alliance or by any single political organization. Whether the country remains united or undergoes changes to its political structure, he said, should not be decided by the TPLF or other groups alone.
According to Weyin Media, Debretsion said such questions should instead be addressed through dialogue and public participation. He said a framework had been prepared under which the public would ultimately determine the country's future, with several possible courses of action already outlined.
In a June 2026 analysis, Addis Standard examined the competing interpretations of "Tsimdo" among Addis Abeba, Asmara and Mekelle, noting that the term had increasingly become part of the political discourse surrounding post-war tensions in northern Ethiopia and the wider Horn of Africa. The analysis said Ethiopian officials had portrayed "Tsimdo" as a potential security and geopolitical threat, while actors associated with Eritrea and Tigray had presented it as a people-to-people or peace and reconciliation initiative.
The debate gained wider attention following a gathering held in Port Sudan in May 2026 under the "Tsimdo" banner. The meeting brought together Ethiopian opposition figures, including representatives associated with the Ogaden National Liberation Front and Andargachew Tsige, alongside other actors. The gathering was publicly presented by organizers as an initiative aimed at promoting peaceful coexistence and strengthening ties among communities in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan.
