ADDIS ABABA (Halbeeg News) – The United State Embassy in Addis Ababa has temporarily suspended its operations In the face of escalating demonstrations in the capital.
Thousands of people mainly from minority communities in Addis Ababa and its environs on Monday took to the streets of the capital to express their anger after a weekend deadly ethnically motivated violence.
In a statement, the U.S. embassy announced that suspended visa and other services in Addis Ababa will be halted on Wednesday.
“Out of an Abundance of caution the U.S. embassy in Addis Ababa is suspending operations on Wednesday, September 19 in the light of expected large-scale demonstrations in Addis Ababa,” the statement reads..
The embassy cancelled all visa appointments and scheduled services for American citizens.
“American citizens should make a new appointment via the embassy website. Immigrant visa applicants will be contacted shortly to reschedule. Non-immigrant applicants should visit the embassy website to schedule a new appointment,” the statement directs.
According to the embassy, Americans are directed to contact the embassy in the capital for “immediate emergency assistance”.
“Americans requiring emergency assistance should visit the U.S. embassy website for contact information,” the embassy stated.
Over 25 people were killed in a weekend of unrest targeting minorities in the ethnic Oromo heartland on the outskirts of Addis Ababa.
About 270 people were arrested in connection with the violence, which broke out as leaders of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), a formerly-banned rebel group, returned home from Eritrea after being invited back by reformist Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
On Monday, protesters blocked roads and shut businesses as they waved flags and jogged through neighbourhoods across Addis Ababa to denounce the weekend killings in the Oromia region’s Burayu district, northwest of Addis Ababa.
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