Ethiopia’s army chief accuses Egypt and Sudan of backing armed alliance seeking to oust Abiy Ahmed

Ethiopia's army chief has accused neighboring Egypt and Sudan of providing support to a coalition of armed groups seeking to remove Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed from power. Field Marshal Birhanu Jula made the allegations in an interview with the Ethiopian army's media outlet, though he did not offer any evidence to back up his claims. Egypt and Sudan have not publicly responded to the accusations as of Sunday morning.

The new alliance, which includes seven groups such as the Tigray People's Liberation Front, Oromo Liberation Army, and Amhara Fano National Movement, aims to overthrow Abiy's government and establish a transitional administration. These factions claim they want to remove the current leadership and install a transitional government in its place. The resurgence of fighting in northern Ethiopia has led to the seizure of airports by Tigrayan forces and clashes with federal troops in the Amhara and Afar regions.

United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk has called for an immediate end to the conflict and warned that Ethiopia could descend back into full-scale war. The tension between Ethiopia and its neighbors is further exacerbated by the ongoing dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile. Egypt has demanded a legally binding agreement regarding the dam's operation, especially during prolonged droughts, and joint information sharing about water releases.

Ethiopia maintains that the dam is crucial for electricity generation and the nation's development, and it insists that it will not cause significant harm to Egypt or Sudan.

Tensions have also escalated between Ethiopia and Sudan, with the latter accusing the former and the United Arab Emirates of involvement in drone attacks on Khartoum airport in May. Sudan, in turn, accused Ethiopia of supporting Tigrayan fighters, a claim that has not been independently verified. Additionally, relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea have soured after the peace agreement that ended their 2020-2022 war. Ethiopia now accuses Eritrea of backing the new armed alliance, a claim that Eritrea has firmly denied.