Abiy Ahmed has pledged to repel threats, defend national interests and secure sea access through dialogue and mutually beneficial arrangements<\/p>\n
Ethiopia\u2019s parliament has re-elected Abiy Ahmed as prime minister for another five-year term, two weeks after armed groups formed an alliance to overthrow his government amid renewed fighting in the country\u2019s north.
\nAbiy was sworn in on Monday at the inaugural session of the newly elected House of Peoples\u2019 Representatives after his ruling Prosperity Party won a sweeping majority with 438 seats in elections held in June. Addressing lawmakers, Abiy expressed his government\u2019s readiness to confront threats and protect its national interests.
\n\u201cGetting tripped up by an obstacle once is natural, but stumbling repeatedly is not normal,\u201d he said, urging unity and greater preparedness for domestic and external challenges.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Ethiopian troops retake regional capital from rebels (VIDEO)<\/p>\n
Abiy first became prime minister in 2018 and won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for restoring ties with neighboring Eritrea after two decades of hostility following their 1998\u20132000 border war. His government fought a two-year war against the Tigray People\u2019s Liberation Front (TPLF) from November 2020. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed before a peace agreement was signed in Pretoria in November 2022.<\/p>\n
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War and diplomatic crisis in the Horn of Africa: Why Ethiopia is at odds with its neighbors<\/p>\n
On September 20, the TPLF, which governs the northern Tigray region, and six other armed groups, including the Amhara Fano National Movement and the Oromo Liberation Army, announced the Ethiopian Peoples\u2019 Forces Alliance for Survival. The coalition unites former battlefield enemies; Fano fought alongside federal troops against the TPLF before turning against Addis Ababa in 2023.
\nFighting has since intensified between federal troops and TPLF forces, which seized airports in Tigray\u2019s regional capital, Mekelle, and the cities of Axum and Shire, disrupting commercial flights. On September 24, the army said it had killed 272 rebel fighters and wounded 260. Federal troops and allied fighters retook Mekelle and its airport last weekend, while the TPLF vowed to continue fighting. More than 720 patients wounded in the conflict had been admitted to hospitals in Korem, Alamata and Shire as of September 25, according to Doctors Without Borders.<\/p>\n
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Colonial chains broken? The largest African dam tests water legacy<\/p>\n
The fighting has also fueled a diplomatic crisis amid allegations that Egypt, Eritrea and Sudan are supporting the armed groups. All three deny the claims. Addis Ababa closed its embassy in Asmara and expelled ten Eritrean diplomats last week, prompting Eritrea to sever ties. Ethiopia also ordered an Egyptian diplomat to leave, and Cairo retaliated by expelling an Ethiopian Embassy counselor.
\nDuring his address following reelection, Abiy renewed his pledge to secure maritime access for landlocked Ethiopia through dialogue and mutually beneficial arrangements. That ambition has strained relations with Eritrea over its Assab Port and with Somalia over Ethiopia\u2019s 2024 coastline deal with Somaliland, which Mogadishu condemned as a violation of its sovereignty. A Turkish-mediated agreement later that year eased the dispute with Somalia.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Ethiopia rejects pressure over Nile and Red Sea access<\/p>\n
The African Union (AU) has urged Ethiopia, Eritrea and Egypt to exercise restraint and resolve their differences through diplomatic channels. The AU and UN have also urged federal troops and TPLF forces to halt hostilities and resume talks to safeguard the Pretoria agreement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Abiy Ahmed has pledged to repel threats, defend national interests and secure sea access through dialogue and mutually beneficial arrangements Ethiopia\u2019s parliament has re-elected Abiy Ahmed as prime minister for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39492,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t