The October 18 statement of the Ethiopian Peoples' Forces Alliance for Survival answering U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as it was shared on X. (Image: Sultan M. Sied via X)
The armed opposition coalition fighting the Ethiopian government said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was wrong to call its war "separatist" and its attacks "terrorism," and urged Washington to take a balanced position.
In a statement dated October 18 and signed in the name of the Ethiopian Peoples' Forces Alliance for Survival, the coalition said the "military acts of self-defense" it has carried out "are not aimed at, or prompted by, separatist objectives to fragment and balkanize our country." It said the fighting started "as a last resort when all sincere endeavors for peaceful reconciliation, including on the basis of the Pretoria Agreement, were rebuffed and totally jettisoned by the ruling regime." Calling the movement separatist, the statement said, "is legally inaccurate and politically inappropriate."
The alliance also rejected the word terrorism for its operations against government forces. "Classifying certain AFS military operations that target the military installations of the adversary as 'terrorism' is unwarranted as it portrays a skewed picture of the reality," the statement said. It accused the Gov't of using "extensively more advanced weapons" against military targets and against "densely populated civilian areas under our control," and warned that the label "will only embolden the regime to pursue its war agenda with impunity and foreclose all efforts for a peaceful resolution." It closed by urging the United States "to pursue a balanced and constructive stance on the whole conflict."
The Government had not publicly responded to the alliance’s statement by Monday morning, though officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had welcomed Rubio’s remarks on X on Saturday.
The statement was answering remarks Rubio made to reporters on Saturday, which the alliance said it heard in an interview carried by C-SPAN. Rubio spoke of "these separatists" and "terrorist attacks" against Ethiopia, according to the State Department transcript, and called for a "wise and measured" response. He did not name any group, and he did not announce any formal terrorist designation.
A State Department spokesman, responding to questions from Mereja Media, said the United States reiterates its call for Ethiopia and Eritrea to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of their neighbors, and that this message has been delivered privately and publicly to both sides at various levels over the last six months. The spokesman said Secretary Rubio spoke with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Oct. 14 to stress those messages.
Addis Standard, which reported the statement on Monday, described the alliance as a coalition of armed and political groups that includes the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the Oromo Liberation Army and the Amhara Fano National Movement, and said its formation was announced on September 20. The paper said it could not independently verify the alliance's claims about Gov't strikes on civilian areas. DW Amharic also carried the response in its live coverage of the northern war on Monday.
Sources
- Ethiopian Peoples' Forces Alliance for Survival statement, October 18, 2026, as posted by Neby G on X
- Sultan M. Sied on X, October 18, 2026
- U.S. Department of State, Secretary of State Marco Rubio Remarks to the Press, Joint Base Andrews, October 17, 2026
- Mereja Media, Rubio says "separatists" attacked inside Ethiopia, refers to drone attacks on Addis Ababa and urges a measured response, October 18, 2026
- U.S. Department of State, Secretary Rubio's Call with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy, October 14, 2026 (readout)
- Addis Standard via allAfrica, Alliance for Survival Rejects Rubio's Characterization of Ethiopia's Conflict As Separatist, Terrorist, October 19, 2026
- DW Amharic live blog on the northern Ethiopia war, entry of Tikimt 9, 2019 (October 19, 2026)