Ethiopia's government has requested the United States to cease disseminating misinformation about the nation, according to the country's state minister of communication, after the US State Department issued a notice about potential "terrorist strikes."
For more than a year, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's administration and dissident troops from the Tigray area in the north have been battling in a conflict that has killed hundreds and displaced millions in Africa's second-most populous nation.
The Irish government said this week that Ethiopia had expelled four of six Irish ambassadors due to Ireland's position on the crisis. Ethiopian government officials have also warned of unspecified foreign dangers and chastised Western nations for their "erroneous" coverage of the war.
Official Minister Kebede Dessisa said the US government should stop spreading "shameful fake news and defamation regarding Ethiopia," the state broadcaster EBC reported.
He linked to a statement issued by the US embassy in Ethiopia on Tuesday, in which it asked its residents to maintain a high degree of alert due to "the persistent risk of terrorist acts in Ethiopia."
Tens of thousands of Ethiopians protested in the capital earlier this month, accusing the US of interfering in Ethiopia's domestic affairs.
On Thursday, hundreds of protestors marched to the city's US consulate, holding placards that said "Interference is Undemocratic" and "Truth Wins."
When asked for a response, a US embassy official stated that the safety of US nationals overseas is one of the State Department's top priorities and that Washington continues to advise US citizens in Ethiopia to travel on commercially accessible planes.
According to the state-run Ethiopian Press Agency, a demonstration also took place outside the UK embassy. It was not feasible to reach the UK government for comment right away. Britain ordered its citizens to leave Ethiopia immediately on Wednesday.
For months, the United Nations has warned that more than 400,000 people in Tigray are facing famine.
The United Nations reported on Wednesday that a convoy of roughly 40 trucks carrying humanitarian goods, including food, had left for Tigray from neighboring Afar. According to the United Nations, 100 vehicles should enter Tigray each day to satisfy humanitarian requirements.
