{"id":179654,"date":"2026-10-25T09:51:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T13:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/?p=179654"},"modified":"2026-10-25T09:51:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T13:51:11","slug":"ethiopias-army-chief-claims-the-army-has-defeated-the-rebel-alliance-that-includes-fano","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/179654","title":{"rendered":"Ethiopia\u2019s Army Chief Claims the Army Has Defeated the Rebel Alliance That Includes Fano"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Field<\/p>\n

Field Marshal Birhanu Jula speaks on Sunday at the 119th Defense Forces Day ceremony at the Armed Forces General Headquarters in Addis Ababa. [Fana via X]<\/em><\/p>\n

Ethiopia\u2019s army chief, Field Marshal Birhanu Jula, claimed on Sunday that the army had defeated the seven-group rebel alliance that includes the Amhara Fano National Movement, and warned that causes framed as the survival of the Amhara, the Oromo and Tigray were hiding a threat to the country.<\/p>\n

Birhanu, the chief of staff of the Ethiopian National Defense Force, spoke for about 12 minutes at the Armed Forces General Headquarters in Addis Ababa, where the Ethiopian Gov\u2019t marked the 119th Defense Forces Day under the theme \u201cArmy of Victory,\u201d with Defense Minister Mohammed Idris, foreign military attach\u00e9s and diplomats in the audience, according to ENA<\/a> and Ethiopia Insider<\/a>. The day marks Tikimt 15 in the Ethiopian calendar, when Emperor Menelik set up a war ministry and named Fitawrari Habte Giorgis Dinegde its first minister.<\/p>\n

He said the war was started by what he called a \u201cTsimdo\u201d coordinated \u201cfrom Egypt to Khartoum and Asmara,\u201d which, in his words, sent the TPLF to open fighting on the North Wollo, Wag and Afar fronts on Sept. 23, and that the TPLF \u201chas become as if it never existed in the war it opened itself,\u201d DW Amharic<\/a> reported. \u201cThey judged that the defense army had grown weak and would collapse if they pushed it a little, and when they provoked it they tasted the collapse they had wished on the army, used up Tigray\u2019s resources and went into Mendefera,\u201d he said, according to Sputnik Ethiopia<\/a>. He claimed that within ten days the TPLF\u2019s fighters had been driven into Mendefera in Eritrea. He also said soldiers had seized weapons shipped through Eritrea\u2019s Massawa port that could arm \u201ca modest-sized country.\u201d He said the army had defeated \u201cseven Tsimdo groups\u201d and \u201cthree foreign forces\u201d behind them, and he told the groups to give up. \u201cThere is no transitional government you will set up on the grave of the defense army. Surrender for peace,\u201d he said, in Sputnik\u2019s account<\/a>. Tsimdo, an Amharic word for an alliance, is what officials in Addis Ababa call the rebel coalition known as the Alliance for Survival, which brings together the TPLF and the Amhara Fano National Movement and has since been joined by the Oromo Liberation Army and the Gumuz People\u2019s Democratic Movement, according to the Critical Threats Project<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Birhanu did not name the enemy he described as the force behind the war, but he said it was \u201can enemy that has fought us and made us fight since the 15th century,\u201d and that it \u201cis attacking us while hiding inside the survival of the Amhara, the Oromo and Tigray,\u201d Ethiopia Insider reported. He told the gathering that the Abay is \u201cEthiopia\u2019s natural gift\u201d and that the Red Sea \u201cis a sea the Creator made for us Ethiopians to use,\u201d and he said the government and the army had \u201cno option other than\u201d protecting those interests. According to Fana<\/a>, he also said that those who want power should organize and compete peacefully rather than try to break up the army and impose a transitional government through armed struggle, and that the people of Tigray needed peace, new ideas and new leadership after years of war.<\/p>\n

None of the army chief\u2019s battlefield claims could be checked independently. The army chief did not say on Sunday where or when the arms were taken. Lt. Gen. Fisseha Kidanu, who was introduced as the commander of the Tigray army, said on Thursday that the region was still at war and called on local militias and volunteers to fight, Al Jazeera<\/a> reported, and he had said earlier, in DW Amharic\u2019s report, \u201cWe know it has superiority in drones, manpower and mechanized forces; this is not something solved by fighting them head-on.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Amhara, where the fronts Birhanu named are, fighting between the federal army and Fano forces has not stopped. The Critical Threats Project said in its Oct. 23 review<\/a> that clashes between the army and the Amhara Fano National Movement halted traffic on Oct. 22 on the main road from Woldia to Bahir Dar, and that TPLF and Fano forces reportedly took Abergele, near the border between Tigray and Amhara, by Oct. 23. The UN humanitarian office said on Friday that drone strikes in eastern Amhara killed at least 15 civilians between Oct. 15 and Oct. 21, according to OCHA<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Getachew Reda, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed\u2019s adviser on East African affairs, told a forum in Addis Ababa last week that when the fighting began, the Eritrean government had given the TPLF and Fano an \u201corder\u201d to push deep into the Amhara and Afar regions and cut the road to Djibouti, according to Ethiopia Insider. Eritrea\u2019s foreign ministry said in an Oct. 21 statement that Eritrean forces are inside the country\u2019s own borders. Eritrea\u2019s Ministry of Information, the TPLF and the Amhara Fano National Movement had not commented on the speech by Sunday morning.<\/p>\n

On X, Natnael Mekonnen (@NatnaelMekonne7<\/a>) shared a clip and wrote in Amharic, \u201cRetreating doesn\u2019t mean turning up in Mendefera within 10 days,\u201d adding that the field marshal, \u201cwith his usual wit, killed us with laughter today.\u201d Amhara Army (@FanoMedia27<\/a>) answered the speech in Amharic with, \u201cAnd what did we say? The army is the guardian of the OPDO\u2019s seat!\u201d Abrar Suleiman (@AbrarSuleiman<\/a>) posted a video he said was from Agbe, Tigray, and wrote, \u201cThe defense army is celebrating its 119th founding anniversary! Note that a month ago there was not a single Ethiopian soldier here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n