Jula blames foreign backers for Ethiopia’s new armed alliance
Ethiopia's army chief Berhanu Jula accused foreign powers, including Egypt and Sudan, of backing a newly formed alliance of armed and political groups opposed to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. He also pointed to Eritrea, which has denied earlier accusations of helping Ethiopian insurgents. The allegation came as fighting around Tigray spread into neighbouring regions. Jula said federal forces were acting with restraint; Tigrayan leaders instead described the federal campaign as a full war. None of the foreign-backing allegations has been independently established.
Geopolitics··Midday
Jula points beyond Ethiopia
Ethiopia's army chief, Field Marshal Berhanu Jula, accused foreign powers of helping a new alliance of armed and political groups opposed to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. In remarks carried on 26 September by the army's own outlet, he alleged that Egypt and Sudan supported the groups and that Eritrea helped connect them to outside backers. Al Jazeera and Shabelle Media Network reported the same statement. The accounts establish that Jula made the allegation; they do not independently verify that those states supplied the alliance. Seven groups had announced the Ethiopian Peoples' Forces Alliance for Survival, including the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), Amhara Fano and the Oromo Liberation Army. The alliance said it wanted to remove Abiy's government and establish a transitional administration. Jula called it a continuation of an older hostile alignment rather than a new force. Eritrea has denied earlier Ethiopian accusations that it backs armed groups inside the country. The allegation now sits in a dispute with a neighbouring state as well as in Ethiopia's internal conflict.[1], [2]
Fighting crosses regional lines
The remarks came as fighting spread from Tigray into neighbouring Afar and Amhara in northern Ethiopia. Around Abala in Afar, the military was trying to prevent rebels from taking the town. In North Wollo, an Amhara area bordering Tigray, the army claimed a counter-offensive had killed 272 Tigrayan fighters and wounded 260 people on Thursday. Those casualty figures came from the army and were not independently verified in the retained reporting. Neither side's statements alone establish control of a town or the full scale of losses. Jula said the federal forces were responding with restraint because another large war would endanger civilians. The TPLF's Tigray Army described a federal offensive involving infantry, mechanised units and drones, and TPLF committee member Abdisalam Balema called the situation a full war. These are opposing descriptions of the same expanding fighting. Their disagreement matters because the commander's claim of restraint does not resolve what is happening at the front.[1]
The earlier peace settlement is under strain
The 2022 Pretoria agreement ended Ethiopia's earlier two-year war in Tigray. The renewed fighting now puts that settlement under pressure as armed groups join forces across several regions. The government command says it prefers strategic calm to a major confrontation; its opponents say federal forces have already launched a large operation. Internet access was reported cut across northern Ethiopia on Friday, reducing public visibility into the clashes. A day before the reported outage, the United Nations said it was alarmed by reports that drones had been used against civilians. Al Jazeera also reported fighting around Sama, Soqota and Raya Alamata, without establishing a settled change in territorial control. Jula's accusations about external support and the rival accounts of the fighting remain attributed claims while the 2022 agreement faces its most visible test in the current escalation.[1]
