According to a report by the Fana news outlet, Abiy is away, while Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen Hassan will take charge of regular government business in his absence.
“Let’s meet on the war front,” he wrote. “The time has come to lead the country with sacrifice.”
Last month, Tigrian forces and their allies threatened to march on the capital, Addis Ababa. They are also fighting hard to try to cut a transport corridor connecting land-locked Ethiopia with the region’s main port, Djibouti.
On Tuesday, US special envoy Jeffrey Feltman said Ethiopian forces and regional militias were able to back Tigrayan efforts to cut the corridor, but Tigrayan forces were able to move south toward the capital.
Ethiopia’s military spokesman did not respond to requests for comment.
Police told Reuters that Ethiopian police have trained some 147,000 civilians in the capital to form neighborhood defense groups and help detect potential intruders.
diplomat expelled
Feltman, along with former Nigerian president-turned-African Union envoy Olusegun Obasanjo, are trying to broker a ceasefire between the two sides.
On Tuesday, Feltman said nascent progress runs the risk of being stymied by military developments.
Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said on Wednesday Ethiopia expelled four of the six Irish diplomats from the country because of Ireland’s stance on the conflict.
Since joining the 15-member body in January, Ireland has been at the forefront of calling a UN Security Council meeting on Ethiopia and emphasizing the Council’s statements on the conflict.
“Ireland is highlighting things that are happening in Ethiopia that are really in violation of international law and are of serious humanitarian and human rights concerns,” he told Ireland’s RTE radio.
“We have unfortunately already had a lot of deaths and a lot of homicides in Ethiopia this year, but it could get much worse in the next few weeks… and that is why, unfortunately, the Ethiopian government has decided to Target Ireland.”
Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Dina Mufti did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Irish Foreign Ministry said its embassy would remain open, but it had asked its citizens to leave immediately by commercial means, adding that those planning to travel should avoid travel.
Also on Wednesday, Switzerland and Britain advised their citizens to leave Ethiopia, citing the deteriorating security situation. France and the United States have already called for citizens to leave.
,