World

Ethiopia's Tigray join forces with Oromo

By AAP Newswire

Nov 2, 2021

Ethiopia Tigray Crisis — Ethiopia's rebel Tigrayan forces have teamed up with an Oromo force to fight against the government.

Ethiopia's rebellious Tigrayan forces have joined up with an Oromo force also fighting the central government, a spokesperson for the Tigrayan forces has said

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The two groups are considering marching on the capital, the spokesperson said on Monday.

"We have linked up with the OLF/OLA and if achieving our objectives in Tigray will require that we march to Addis Ababa we will, but we are not saying we are marching to Addis Ababa," Getachew Reda, a spokesperson for the Tigray Liberation Front, told Reuters.

Reuters could not independently verify his statement as phone connections in the area are down.Â

Government spokesperson Legesse Tulu, a military spokesperson and an Amhara regional spokesperson, did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

Earlier on Monday, the Ethiopian government accused Tigrayan forces of killing 100 youths in the town of Kombolcha.

The Tigrayan forces denied the allegation.

Spokesperson Getachew Reda told Reuters by satellite phone from an undisclosed location: "We don't have to kill the youth. There was no resistance in Kombolcha."

Government spokesperson Legesse Tulu did not respond when asked by phone and message for a comment on Getachew's statement, but he had earlier in the day referred Reuters to the government statement on the alleged killing in Kombolcha.

The Tigrayan forces have been fighting the government for the past year in a widening war that has destabilised Africa's second most populous nation.

Reuters was not able verify accounts of the fighting around the town on a major highway about 380 km (235 miles) from the capital, Addis Ababa. Communications to the area are down and journalists are barred.