US extends national emergency over Ethiopia for another year

September 7 (EUROPA PRESS) –

US President Joe Biden announced on Friday a new one-year extension of the national emergency declared in September 2021 regarding Ethiopia, arguing that there is an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to national security and Washington’s foreign policy due to the situation in the north of the African country, in reference to the regions of Tigray and Oromia.

“The situation in northern Ethiopia (…) has been marked by activities that threaten the peace, security, and stability of Ethiopia and the Greater Horn of Africa region,” the White House said in a statement, in which it decided that the measure should be extended beyond September 17, the date on which it was scheduled to end.

The country is in the midst of a surge in violence despite a peace deal signed in 2022 with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which ended the war that broke out in November 2020 between the group and the Ethiopian Armed Forces in the Tigray region (north).

The Ethiopian government declared a state of emergency in Amhara in August 2023 after months of clashes between security forces and the Fano militia, which collaborated with Amhara forces during the war against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), thus fighting on the side of the Ethiopian Armed Forces.

Tensions flared over the authorities’ decision to disband regional special forces – including the particularly powerful Amhara special forces – as part of the peace process with the TPLF. Several members of these special forces joined the Fano militias and attacked the army and politicians over this measure.