The Sidama National Liberation Front, also known as Sidama Liberation Front or Sidama Liberation Movement (

abbreviated An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...

SNLF or SLF) is a rebel group in the

Sidama Region The Sidama Region (Sidama: Sidaamu Qoqqowo; ) is a regional state in southern Ethiopia. It was formed on 18 June 2020 from the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNPR) and transformation of the Sidama Zone after a 98.52% vote ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. The SNLF allied with the

Oromo Liberation Front The Oromo Liberation Front ( om, Adda Bilisummaa Oromoo, abbreviated: ABO; English abbreviation: OLF) is an Oromo nationalist political party formed in 1973 to promote self-determination for the Oromo people inhabiting today's Oromia Region and ...

in 2012 and the

Ogaden National Liberation Front The Ogaden National Liberation Front (abbreviated ONLF, so, Jabhadda Wadaniga Xoreynta Ogaadeeniya; ar, الجبهة الوطنية لتحرير أوجادين) is a social and political movement, founded in 1984 to campaign for the right to ...

in 2015 against the

Tigray People's Liberation Front The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF; ti, ህዝባዊ ወያነ ሓርነት ትግራይ, lit=Popular Struggle for the Freedom of Tigray), also called the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, is a left-wing ethnic nationalist paramilitar ...

Creation

The Sidama National Liberation Front was established .

Aims

The SNLF describes its aim as

self-determination The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a ''jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It stat ...

of the

Sidama people The Sidama ( am, ሲዳማ) are an ethnic group traditionally inhabiting the Sidama Region, formerly part of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. On 23 November 2019, the Sidama Zone became the 10th regional sta ...

. In 2016, SNLF representatives met with other groups in

Asmara Asmara ( ), or Asmera, is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region. It sits at an elevation of , making it the sixth highest capital in the world by altitude and the second highest capital in Africa. The ...

, creating the People's Alliance for Freedom and Democracy, which protested against the "brutal suppression of the unarmed protesters in Oromia by the

TPLF The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF; ti, ህዝባዊ ወያነ ሓርነት ትግራይ, lit=Popular Struggle for the Freedom of Tigray), also called the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, is a left-wing ethnic nationalist paramilitar ...

". The alliance protested against multinational corporations and the TPLF-dominated government expropriating natural resources from poor agro-pastoral communities and displacing the inhabitants.

Leadership

In 2017, Denboba Natie was a member of the SNLF's executive committee.

Alliances

In 2012, the SNLF (at the time, SLF), made a joint statement with the

, accusing the TPLF of deliberately creating violent conflict between Sidama and Oromo groups "through multifaceted attacks". The SNLF and OLF together called for "subjugated peoples in general" and the Oromo and Sidama to avoid being lured into conflict and "instead form their historically effective common elders committee and resolve their conflicts in the established traditional way." , the SNLF was allied with two other rebel groups, the

and the

, and was fighting against the

government of Ethiopia The government of Ethiopia () is the federal government of Ethiopia. It is structured in a framework of a federal republic, federal parliamentary system, parliamentary republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, prime minister is the hea ...

, dominated by the

Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF; am, የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝቦች አብዮታዊ ዲሞክራሲያዊ ግንባር, translit=Ye’Ītiyop’iya Ḥizibochi Ābiyotawī Dīmokirasīyawī Ginibari) was an eth ...

(EPDRF).

References

Ethiopian civil conflict (2018–present) Ethnic political parties in Ethiopia Guerrilla organizations National liberation movements in Africa Political parties in Ethiopia Rebel groups in Ethiopia {{Ethiopia-party-stub