From Reuters:
“U.S. embassy in Ethiopia
permits voluntary departure of some staff, family”
(A general view of the skyline of
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia November 3, 2021.)
The U.S. embassy in Ethiopia has
authorised the voluntary departure of non-emergency government staff and family
members because of armed conflict, it said on its website, as rebel forces in
the north make advances. The decision came after the United States said on
Wednesday it was "gravely concerned" about the escalating violence
and expansion of hostilities, repeating a call for a halt to military
operations in favour of ceasefire talks. "The (State) Department
authorized the voluntary departure of non-emergency U.S. government employees
and family members of emergency and non-emergency employees from Ethiopia due
to armed conflict, civil unrest, and possible supply shortages," the
embassy said in a statement.
Travel to Ethiopia is unsafe and
further escalation is likely, it added. "The government of Ethiopia has
previously restricted or shut down internet, cellular data, and phone services
during and after civil unrest," it said. Government spokesperson Legesse
Tulu did not immediately respond to a telephone call seeking comment on the
U.S. embassy statement. On Tuesday, Ethiopia declared a state of emergency,
with forces from the northern region of Tigray threatening to advance on the
capital, Addis Ababa.
Jeffrey Feltman, the U.S. special
envoy for the Horn of Africa, is expected to arrive in Addis Ababa to press for
a halt to military operations in the north and to seek the start of ceasefire
talks. On Wednesday, Britain urged its citizens to review their need to stay in
Ethiopia and consider leaving while commercial options were available. Prime
Minister Abiy Ahmed pledged to bury his government's enemies "with our
blood" as rebellious Tigrayan forces and their Oromo allies threaten to
advance on Addis Ababa. Abiy was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for
settling Ethiopia's longtime conflict with Eritrea. An earlier call to
"bury" the enemy in a statement posted on Abiy's official Facebook
page over the weekend was removed by the platform for violating its policies
against inciting and supporting violence, the company said.
Tigrayan forces are in the town
of Kemise in Amhara state, 325 km (200 miles) from the capital, a spokesman for
the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), Getachew Reda, told Reuters late
on Wednesday, pledging to minimise casualties in their drive to take Addis
Ababa. "We don't intend to shoot at civilians and we don't want bloodshed.
If possible we would like the process to be peaceful." A regional analyst
in touch with the parties to the war and who spoke on condition of anonymity
said the TPLF was likely to hold off on any advance on Addis Ababa until they
secured the highway running from neighbouring Djibouti to the capital. That
requires seizing the town of Mille. Getachew said on Tuesday that Tigrayan
forces were closing in on Mille.
^ Hopefully this war can end
without an assault on the Capital. I don’t want to see the US Embassy in Addis
Ababa become like the US Embassy in Kabul was in August 2021. I also don’t want
to see American Citizens abandoned by the US Government in Ethiopia the way
American Citizens continue to be abandoned by the US Government in Afghanistan - over 2 months now. ^
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