- The Ethiopian government says there is no imminent threat to the capital despite claims from rebel forces
The U.S. State Department is launching a new task force to oversee the departure of some U.S. Embassy personnel in Ethiopia and of U.S. citizens seeking to leave the country as its conflict rapidly escalates, with rebel groups claiming to be advancing toward the capital of Addis Ababa, current and former U.S. officials familiar with the matter told Foreign Policy.
The move underscores how concerned U.S. policymakers are that the country’s conflict between the central government and forces from the Tigray region in the north could threaten the capital, even as senior Ethiopian officials dismiss those concerns as sensationalized disinformation that play into the rebel groups’ propaganda.
The U.S. State Department’s decision to set up a task force for evacuation comes after the embassy authorized the voluntary departure of some U.S. Embassy staff and their family from the capital this week, and on Friday, it advised U.S. citizens to leave the country “as soon as possible.” The measures reflect growing concern in Washington over the stability of East Africa’s most populous country in the wake of its yearlong conflict against forces from Tigray.
The newly established task force, officials said, will help coordinate the voluntary departure of nonemergency government personnel and help facilitate commercial flights out of the country for U.S. citizens seeking to leave. One official, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the step as precautionary and said so far, they hadn’t seen a rush of U.S. citizens seeking to leave immediately.
A top Ethiopian government spokesperson dismissed the threat from rebel groups in Addis Ababa as “disinformation” during a virtual briefing on Friday.
“As far as a ‘siege’ is concerned on Addis, that is not true, and there is an alarmist narrative that is creating much tension among different communities, including the international community, that needs to be addressed,” said Billene Seyoum Woldeyes, spokesperson for Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
On Tuesday, Ethiopia declared a state of national emergency and directed its citizens to begin preparing to defend Addis Ababa.
A State Department spokesperson confirmed to Foreign Policy the creation of the new task force to “oversee the Department’s planning, management, and logistics related to events in Ethiopia.”
The spokesperson declined to comment on how many U.S. citizens are estimated to be in Ethiopia currently, saying U.S. Embassies “compile rough estimates” on how many U.S. citizens are in their countries for contingency planning but does “not want to provide figures that cannot be considered authoritative.”
“The Department and the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa are monitoring commercial flight availability closely and encourage U.S. citizens to have departure plans that do not involve the U.S. government,” the spokesperson said.
This article first appeared in Foreign Policy, https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/11/05/state-department-ethiopia-conflict-tigray-embassy-us-citizens-urged-to-leave/