The Ethiopian government says the latest round of peace talks with the rebel group Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) has failed to end with an agreement.

One of the government’s negotiators, Redwan Hussein, blamed the OLA, accusing it of an “obstructive approach” and making “unrealistic demands”.

The government “regrets this unfortunate turn of events,” Mr Redwan said on X (formerly Twitter).

In response, OLA said the Ethiopian government was only interested in co-opting it “rather than beginning to address the fundamental problems that underlie the county´s seemingly insurmountable security and political challenges”.

“A historical opportunity to take a leap in the right direction has been lost because of Ethiopian government failed to course correct,” it said.

The OLA, which the federal government has designated a terrorist organisation has been fighting the government for the last four years, citing what it calls the oppression of the Oromo ethnic group.

The talks between the government and OLA, held in the Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam, hoped to bring peace for Ethiopia’s largest Oromia region.

In the neighbouring Amhara region, a conflict has been escalating between the army and a militia which the government has been trying to disband.