Tag Archives: Addis Ababa

Tigrayan forces fighting the central government have withdrawn from neighboring regions in Ethiopia’s north, a Tigrayan spokesman said on Monday, a step towards a possible ceasefire after major territorial gains by the Ethiopian military. The 13-month-old war in Africa’s second-most populous nation has destabilized an already fragile region, sent 60,000 …

Tigrayan forces have recaptured the town of Lalibela in Ethiopia, less than two weeks after government forces and their allies took control, witnesses told Reuters on Sunday. Lalibela is a town in the Amhara region and a United Nations World Heritage site. Government spokesperson Legesse Tulu did not respond to …

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Tuesday urged Tigrayan rebels to surrender, claiming government forces were nearing victory just one week after he vowed to lead military operations at the front. “The youth of Tigray is perishing like leaves. Knowing it is defeated, it is being led by one who …

Ethiopian authorities have detained more than 70 drivers working with the United Nations, a U.N. spokesperson said, amid international alarm over reported widespread arrests of ethnic Tigrayans as the war in the country’s north escalates. The ethnicity of the 72 drivers was not clear. The U.N. spokesperson said the drivers …

Tigray forces fighting Ethiopia’s government on Sunday played down reports that they would face a hostile population or cause a “bloodbath” if they advanced into the capital city. Several countries have urged their nationals to leave Ethiopia and the US has withdrawn diplomats as the year-long conflict in the north …

Ethiopia declared a state of emergency on Tuesday after forces from the northern region of Tigray said they were gaining territory and considering marching on the capital Addis Ababa. The announcement on state-affiliated media came two days after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed urged citizens to take up arms to defend …

Ethiopia’s parliament confirmed incumbent Abiy Ahmed as prime minister for a five-year term on Monday, cementing his power domestically amid mounting international concern about his government’s handling of the conflict in northern Ethiopia. Abiy’s party won a landslide victory in June’s election. He was sworn in on Monday, and a …

Ethiopia said on Saturday that more than 150 aid trucks had entered war-torn Tigray over the past two days after the United Nations warned of a “looming catastrophe” in the northern region. A senior UN official said this week that a “de facto aid blockade” was exacerbating the humanitarian crisis …

Ethiopian Airlines, the largest carrier in Africa, on Sunday denied it was transporting weapons and soldiers to the war-torn Tigray region. Calls to boycott the state-owned airline appeared on social media over allegations it was involved in the nine-month-old conflict. “Ethiopian Airlines strongly refutes all the recent baseless and unfounded …

Ethiopia’s Somali region said on Wednesday a vital road and rail trade route linking the landlocked capital of Addis Ababa to the seaport of Djibouti was blocked by youths angered by a deadly militia attack on their region. Around 95% of imports into the nation of around 110 million people …

Hundreds of people were arrested and businesses shut in the Ethiopian capital on suspicion of supporting Tigrayan rebels in the country’s war-torn northern region, police told state media Saturday. Addis Ababa Police Commissioner, Getu Argaw, said those detained had suspected links to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the region’s …

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s Prosperity Party won the most seats in Ethiopia’s parliamentary election, the election board said on Saturday, a victory that assures him another term in office. Abiy’s party won 410 of 436 parliamentary seats, election board deputy chairperson Woubshet Ayele told a news conference in the capital …

Spokesman says forces prepared to chase their opponents well beyond the northern Ethiopian region. Tigrayan fighters have reportedly taken control of more territory in the embattled northern Ethiopian region of Tigray, a day after regaining the regional capital, Mekelle, from retreating federal government forces and pledging to drive all “enemies” …

Only combatants, not civilians, were struck in an airstrike this week in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, the country’s military spokesman said on Thursday.

Ethiopia is preparing for national and regional parliamentary elections on Monday that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has said will be the country’s first free and fair polls after decades of repressive rule.

At least 10 people died in clashes between protesters and security forces in Ethiopia’s southern region on Monday, health officials said, the latest violence as myriad ethnic groups clamour for more autonomy. The protests were sparked by Sunday’s arrest of local officials and activists seeking a new autonomous region for …

Ethiopia has dismissed reports that it’s filling a massive reservoir behind a new hydroelectric dam, as the colossal infrastructure project strains ties between three African nations that all rely on the River Nile for water. Egypt has previously threatened to go to war over the dam. Almost 10 years of …

More than 166 people were killed during anti-government protests in Ethiopia last week, the government said on Sunday, as the capital and other hotspots remained closely guarded by security forces and a blanket Internet shutdown entered its sixth day. Large protests broke out in Addis Ababa and spread to the …

Six people were injured on Thursday in scuffles between Ethiopian security forces and mourners trying to attend the funeral of singer Haacaaluu Hundeessaa, whose killing earlier this week sparked protests that killed more than 80 people, a witness said. Residents reported soldiers, federal police and regional police lining the roads …

Ethiopia has reiterated it will start filling the reservoir of a controversial dam on the Nile – that has been at the center of a decade-long dispute in East Africa – even without an agreement from Egypt and Sudan. The construction of the $4.6bn Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on …