Ethiopia crisis deepens as nine groups form anti-government alliance

Allied forces preventing towards Ethiopia's central authorities say they're "weeks to months" away from getting into Addis Ababa, claiming that they're now accountable for a city about 160 kilometers (99 miles) from the capital metropolis.

That timeline is an estimate based mostly on the present velocity of the push south, a spokesperson Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), a insurgent group preventing for the rights of individuals from Oromia, Ethiopia's most populous area, informed CNN on Thursday.

The OLA, together with different allied groups, have mentioned that shifting on Addis Ababa is just not their essential goal. Instead, the OLA mentioned it's calling for Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to be eliminated, a transitional convention established and, finally, to carry what Odaa described as a "truly democratic election" inclusive of all voices and stakeholders.

The query of getting into the capital metropolis is "purely based on what happens if it comes to negotiations," with the federal authorities, Odaa mentioned, including that the group hopes to keep away from a direct navy battle within the densely populated metropolis.

Oda mentioned that the closest space the joint forces held was the city Gerba Guracha, 160km north of the capital and that it was a false impression that the group's operations in cities close to the capital meant it was accountable for these areas. "That is not the case," he added.

In current weeks, the OLA and TPLF claimed to have had seized Dessie and Kombolcha, two key cities on the highway to Addis Ababa.

The city of Laga Tafo, roughly 25km (15 miles) from the capital, is "not in our control," Odaa clarified to CNN.

OLA has about 2,000 fighters from a cell commando unit within the rural areas within the neighborhood of the city and an extra 400 fighters from the Oromo Special Forces that defected and joined OLA on Wednesday, Odaa mentioned.