US reports Ethiopia 'progress,' threatened by military 'escalation'
US Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Jeffrey Feltman cited negotiation progress between Ethiopia's government and rebels, but warned that escalating fighting could doom the fragile process
The US envoy on Ethiopia Tuesday reported "progress" towards a diplomatic settlement between the government and Tigrayan rebels, but warned it risked being eclipsed by "alarming developments" on the ground.
"While there's some nascent progress, that is highly at risk of being outpaced by the military escalation on the two sides," Jeffrey Feltman, special envoy for the Horn of Africa, told reporters after returning from a mission to Addis Ababa.
Feltman said there was notable progress in getting the government and the rebels, locked in a year-long war whose fighting has edged ever closer to the capital, to "move from a military confrontation to a negotiating process."
But "what concerns us is this fragile progress being outpaced by the alarming developments on the ground," he added.
Battles between government forces and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) have escalated and neared Addis Ababa to the point that several Western countries have called on their nationals to leave the country.
The fighting has killed thousands of people and displaced more than two million.
The international community has intensified its diplomatic efforts to try to obtain a ceasefire deal, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned this month that Ethiopia was at risk of an "implosion" if no political solution was found.
