Ethiopia’s Oromia region, which surrounds the capital Addis Ababa, imposed a nocturnal curfew amid the ongoing conflict between government forces and those from the northern Tigray region.
People
have been ordered to stay at home and businesses closed between 8 p.m. and 5:30
a.m., Adugna Ahmed, head of the Oromia Attorney General Office, said by phone
on Sunday.
The
move is the latest in a yearlong war that has killed thousands of people,
displaced hundreds of thousands more and led the United Nations to warn that
more than 400,000 people are at risk of starvation. Tigray militants have
advanced to about 200 miles from Addis Ababa.
Tigray
Defense forces (TDF) threatened on Friday to "hunt down" foreigners
they said were supporting the Ethiopian government as mercenaries and technical
experts in a year-long war.
Tigray
People's Liberation Front (TPLF) spokesperson Getachew Reda said the foreigners
could be from Turkey, China, Israel or the United Arab Emirates.
Government
spokesperson Legesse Tulu did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
There have been no independently verified reports of the warring sides using
mercenaries to date.
Getachew
told Reuters via satellite phone: "We don’t care (what their nationality
is). We will hunt them down. They will be treated like the mercenaries they
are."
The
war, which has killed thousands and forced more than two million people from
their homes.
The
conflict escalated this month after rebellious forces from the northern region
of Tigray and their allies made territorial gains and threatened to march on
the capital. The government says the gains have been exaggerated.
The
government declared a state of emergency on Nov. 2.
That
allows suspects to be detained for as long as the state of emergency lasts;
allows house-to-house searches without a warrant; and requires citizens to
carry identity cards, some of which - like those issued by some regions - can
be an indication of ethnic origin.
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