French Foreign Ministry Urges Nationals To Leave Ethiopia Immediately

PARIS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th November, 2021) The French Foreign Ministry on Wednesday urged citizens to refrain from traveling to Ethiopia and those already in the Northern African country to leave immediately in light of escalating hostilities between the rebel Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) force and the Ethiopian government.

The British government released a similar appeal to its nationals earlier in the day.

"In line with the evolution of the situation on the ground in Ethiopia and around Addis Ababa, we formally called on French nationals to leave this country without delay and, as we indicated on the travel advice on our website, all travel to Ethiopia is strongly discouraged," a ministry spokesperson said at a briefing.

The ministry also urged all parties in the Ethiopian internal conflict, going on since November 2020, to "cease fire, restore humanitarian access and engage in the fight against impunity.

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The domestic confrontation in Ethiopia began when the central government accused TPLF rebels of attacking its military base in Tigray, and launched an offensive against them. In May, the TPLF was recognized as a terrorist group in Ethiopia.

In early November, nine Ethiopian opposition factions declared the formation of an anti-government alliance to oust the current cabinet led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and establish transitional authorities. The TPLF is a part of the alliance.

On November 2, the Ethiopian parliament declared a six-month state of emergency across the country as TPLF forces advanced on the capital. Several countries decided to begin withdrawing their diplomatic missions as a result of mounting tensions.