Tens of thousands of Ethiopians have vowed to defend the capital from advancing rebels during a pro-military rally where attendees dismissed diplomatic efforts to end the year-long war.
The rally in central Addis Ababa was the latest attempt to shore up public support for the conflict against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and allied groups.
It came five days after the government declared a nationwide state of emergency ostensibly to protect civilians from the TPLF, which has claimed key gains in recent days while floating a possible march on the capital.
On Saturday, the US embassy announced it was ordering the departure of non-emergency staff, days after countries including Saudi Arabia, Norway, Sweden and Denmark urged their citizens to leave.
Rally-goers held signs blasting Western media for broadcasting “fake news” overstating rebel gains while other signs urged the US, one of the harshest international critics of the war, to “stop sucking our blood”.
Addis Ababa mayor Adanech Abebe said in a speech that Ethiopia’s foes were trying to “terrorise our population”.
She was particularly critical of the US government, which last week announced plans to boot Ethiopia out of a vital trade pact because of rights abuses related to the war.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops into Tigray last November in response to a TPLF attack on federal troops based in the state. In June, the rebels rejected a government ceasefire and attacked the neighboring regions of Afar and Amhara.
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