Northern Ethiopia’s shifting alliances explained

What the report says

Al Jazeera reports that alliances in northern Ethiopia have shifted sharply since the 2020-2022 war, with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), Fano militias and Eritrea now entangled in renewed tensions with Ethiopia’s federal government. The article says the latest fighting has centered on western Tigray, where the government and the TPLF have blamed each other for triggering clashes.

The report outlines how the TPLF, once a key enemy of federal forces and Eritrean and Amhara-aligned fighters, is again at the center of the conflict. It cites Ethiopia’s accusation, made in a letter to the United Nations in October 2025, that the TPLF and Eritrea were helping to finance, mobilize and direct Fano forces in northern areas. The article also notes TPLF denials, with Debretsion Gebremichael dismissing the claims as fabricated and saying Addis Ababa is using them to distract from not carrying out the peace deal.

Fano is described as a loose Amhara nationalist militia network that was previously aligned with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government before breaking with it over disarmament and allegations of abuse. Al Jazeera says the group has broadened its aims and increased its attacks. On Eritrea, the report recalls Ethiopia’s February acknowledgment that Eritrean troops took part in the Tigray war, followed by mutual denials and demands for withdrawal. The article places these disputes in a wider regional setting involving Sudan and Egypt, suggesting that northern Ethiopia’s conflict is linked to broader rivalries in the Horn of Africa.