Ethiopian rebel fighters have joined into a united front against the UAE proxy Abiy Ahmed regime hanging on to power in Ethiopia. The three largest, most powerful rebel armies, from the Amhara FANO Army, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), and the Oromo Liberation Front/Army (OLF/A), are now carrying out coordinated fighting against the regime under the overall leadership of the head of the Amhara FANO Army, Zemene Kassie.
With over 85% of Ethiopia now in the hands of the rebels, and all attempts by the regime to launch counterattacks to recapture territory having been defeated, only the greater capital area of Addis Ababa remains under regime control.
The situation in the Ethiopian government army is deteriorating, with losses mounting and an increasing number of its soldiers surrendering. Regime press gangs roam Addis Ababa’s streets, snatching any young men they can get their hands on. It can’t help but remind one of Ukraine.
The Amhara FANO Army is the largest, followed by the TPLF and then the OLA. It’s ironic that FANO was formed as a people’s defence force to protect the Amhara people from the rampages of the TPLF back after the attempted coup by the TPLF was defeated by the Eritreans in late 2020.
Multiple reports say FANO’s leader, Zemene, is head of a transitional council of the armed opposition. Their announced plan is to replace the Abiy regime government with a people’s government that keeps existing state institutions intact.
This transitional council is one of the last major steps in the process of replacing the UAE proxy regime of Abiy Ahmed.
On the battlefield, where all these matters will ultimately be decided, Zemene’s forces must cut the Djibouti-Addis Ababa lifeline and shut down the air bases still receiving arms and finances from the UAE. Once this is accomplished, there will be little life left in the UAE’s attempts to keep its proxy in power in Ethiopia.
What follows the end of the Abiy regime is the 130-million-person question. What this new revolutionary council institutes will determine whether peace and prosperity or more chaos and conflict is in store for the new group of nations emerging from what is today’s Ethiopia.
