Eritrea

A new armed alliance of Tigrayan, Amhara, Oromo and other regional forces announced on September 20 aims to remove Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and set up an inclusive transition, drawing on support from Eritrea and Sudan. Three days later, TPLF forces allied with the Afar National Unity Revolutionary Front advanced into several districts in Zone 2 with little resistance. The alliance follows a long pattern of violent struggle in Ethiopia, where those excluded from power take up arms.

The U.S. has lifted its arms embargo and related sanctions on Ethiopia, removing the country from ITAR restrictions and terminating the 2021 national emergency imposed during the Tigray war. The change, effective September 18, 2026, replaces the blanket denial policy with case-by-case licensing for defense exports to Ethiopian security forces, while neighboring Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, and South Sudan remain under full U.S. arms embargoes.

Nobel laureates Olga Tokarczuk and JM Coetzee are among prominent writers demanding proof of life and release of disappeared Eritrean authors. The campaign calls for transparency regarding the fate of the missing writers, who were detained by Eritrean authorities.