The American magazine Foreign Policy reported that the United States has established a new task force to oversee the evacuation of American diplomats from the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa as fighting intensifies in the country. This development follows hours after the U.S. urged all its citizens to leave Ethiopia "as soon as possible." A statement on the website of the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa on Friday said, "The security situation in Ethiopia is not entirely clear. We advise American citizens in Ethiopia to leave the country as soon as possible."
Foreign Policy also noted that the task force will supervise the departure of American citizens currently in Ethiopia. The magazine considers this recent step to reflect the level of concern among U.S. policymakers that the conflicts in Ethiopia between the central government and Tigray forces in the north could threaten the capital, Addis Ababa, even as senior Ethiopian officials downplay these concerns as misleading information used by the rebels.
The decision by the U.S. State Department to form the evacuation team comes after the embassy allowed voluntary departures for some embassy staff and their families from the capital this week. These measures reflect growing concerns in Washington regarding the stability of Ethiopia, according to Foreign Policy.
