With rebel forces closing the distance to Addis Ababa, foreign governments, including the US, have ordered the evacuation of civilians. Ethiopian Prime Minister Ably Ahmed told his nation to prepare for more sacrifices to save the country after nine rebel groups built an alliance around the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) for the key battle to reach the capital and remove the government. The TPLF claimed on Wednesday to have captured Kemissie in Amhara, 325km northeast of the capital, and are still advancing.
This brutal year-long conflict has killed thousands, displaced more than 2.5 million and left more than 5 million in urgent need of aid. The fall of Addis Ababa would plunge Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous country, into a bloodbath of tribal warfare.