The Oromo Radical Group, which the Ethiopian government linked to the massacres of thousands of civilians in the Oromo and Benishangul Gumuz regions, on Wednesday, announced that it has formed an alliance with the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
The militant wing of Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) told the Associated Press (AP) that it formed alliance with TPLF with a common goal to remove the government in Addis Ababa.
Kumsa Driba, also known as Jal Mero, who is said to be Oromo Liberation Front army commander, said for that to happen, we have formed a military alliance with Tigray Forces.
The alliance is formed with the principle of “fighting common enemies together.”
The two organizations have a history of military and political alliance which did not go well. A little before Colonel Mengistu Hailemariam’s government was toppled in 1991, the two organizations forged an alliance, but did not last.
Oromo Liberation Front fell out with Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) barely a year after the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, which was dominated by TPLF, took power in 1991.
Soon after that, the half a century old radical Oromo political organization had to flee from Ethiopian power center to lead a brief guerrilla activity in the South East and South Western part of Ethiopia. It did not last long as it faced a devastating defeat from the TPLF led government.
MG/abj/APA