Following the territorial gains of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, TPLF, Ethiopia’s central government has announced a six-month nationwide state of emergency.
The state of emergency, according to the Council of Ministers, enabled the construction of barriers, the suspension of transportation services, the implementation of curfews, and the military’s takeover of specific districts, among other things.
The regulations allow anyone suspected of having ties to terrorist organizations to be held without a court order.
Residents of Addis Ababa were previously urged to mount an armed defense of their homes, according to officials.
Guns must be registered with the Police Department within the next two days, according to Kenea Yadeta, a senior city official.
He urged Ethiopians from all walks of life to work together.
The Ethiopian military was forced to leave major cities in the Amhara region which share a border with the capital, in the struggle against the TPLF.
The TPLF has gained access to one of the country’s most critical routes and is currently advancing on Addis Ababa with the help of Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) fighters.
According to a spokeswoman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, he is “extremely worried.”
He added that Ethiopia’s and the region’s stability were in jeopardy.
Meanwhile, in a letter to Congress, US President Joe Biden said that Ethiopia’s duty-free commercial access to the US had been declined due to “grave abuses” of human rights.
The U.S. on Tuesday advised its citizens not to travel to the African country in updated travel advice due to “armed conflict, civil unrest, communications disruptions, crime and potential for terrorism and kidnapping in border areas.
The government began a military operation against the TPLF, which had previously held authority in Tigray’s northern area.
The TPLF ruled Ethiopia, which has a population of about 115 million people, for 25 years until Abiy came to power in 2018 and overthrew it.
Leading military figures defected to the TPLF, allowing the rebels to gain major victories in a short period.