France calls on its nationals to leave Ethiopia without delay. The rebels, who have been fighting government forces for more than a year, are believed to be only 200 kilometers from the capital, Addis Ababa.
Tuesday, November 23, the streets of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, are calm: the war has not yet reached the capital. However, many expatriates are packing their bags. The 900 French people living in Ethiopia are called to leave the country without delay. Most of the other Western embassies have sent out the same message. “All our friends are gone”, says Alexandre Ehrlacher, French resident in Ethiopia.
The rebels who threaten the Ethiopian power have made a meteoric advance and successively captured the towns of Kombolcha and Shewa-Robit, only 200 km from Addis Ababa. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, 2019 Nobel Peace Prize winner, explained on Monday November 22 that he was leaving “on the front, to lead the armed forces”. The rebels of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front have been at war for a year against the central power, and supported by nine other groups. They originally claimed independence for their northern region, but the conflict turned into a civil war. If they take place far from the cameras, the fighting has already claimed tens of thousands of lives.
