{"id":837750,"date":"2026-10-14T12:40:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T16:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/?p=837750"},"modified":"2026-10-14T13:37:05","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T17:37:05","slug":"us-uk-travel-warnings-ethiopia-eritrea-mekelle-bus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/837750","title":{"rendered":"U.S. and UK warn citizens over northern Ethiopia as Mekelle flights and bus service resume"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/p>\n

The terminal of Alula Aba Nega Airport in Mekelle, Tigray, May 20, 2008 (Simon Temple, Wikimedia Commons, public domain) [file photo]<\/em><\/p>\n

The United States and Britain have given their citizens new warnings about Ethiopia because of the war in the north and the standoff with Eritrea, DW Amharic reported on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

In a security alert dated October 12, the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa said multiple sources report that the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) and the Tigray Peace Force have taken control of Abi Adi, Adigrat, Adwa and Shire in the Tigray region. The embassy said the same sources report that the two forces removed armed opposition from northern Afar. It told Americans in the Amhara region, including Lalibela, and in Tigray or Afar to leave if it is safe to do so, or to shelter in place until conditions improve. Its main advice did not change: “Do not travel to Amhara (including Lalibela), Tigray, or Afar.”<\/p>\n

The embassy also said Ethiopian Airlines resumed flights to and from Mekelle’s Alula Aba Nega Airport on October 11, while flights to Axum and Shire remain suspended. It said public transport has resumed on the road from Mekelle to Semera, the capital of the Afar region. The embassy said it cannot guarantee safety on that road, and it told Americans who leave Mekelle by road to travel in groups and follow local authorities. The alert also carried a warning about online information. “Some social media accounts contain false and misleading reports about the security situation in Ethiopia,” it said, and it urged citizens to check news with several reliable sources.<\/p>\n

Bizna Kenya posted on X on Wednesday that Ethiopian Airlines restarted Addis Ababa to Mekelle commercial flights on October 11 after a suspension that began on September 23, and that services to Axum and Shire remain suspended. The account’s bio describes it as a Kenyan business and economy news page.<\/p>\n

The British government updated its Eritrea travel advice on Monday, October 12. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said a limited number of British Embassy staff and their dependants in Eritrea have been temporarily withdrawn. It continues to advise against all travel within 25 kilometers of all of Eritrea’s land borders, and against all but essential travel to the rest of the country. “Tensions between Eritrea and Ethiopia are high,” the advice says, adding that British help such as evacuation “may be severely limited in a crisis.” The FCDO Travel Advice account shared the update on X. On its Ethiopia page, the FCDO already advises against all travel within 20 kilometers of the border with Eritrea and against all travel to the Tigray region and to all of the Amhara region.<\/p>\n

DW Amharic reporter Solomon Muche said in the same report that DW checked on Tuesday morning and confirmed that one of the special cross-country bus operators has started trips from Addis Ababa to Mekelle. DW found that tickets for trips up to Thursday were already sold out. The sold-out seats suggest strong demand for travel north. Foreign governments’ advisories for their own citizens remain in place.<\/p>\n

According to DW, seven countries have now issued travel advisories for their citizens after the fighting in northern Ethiopia began or shortly before it. They are the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, France and Germany. DW also recalled reports from a week earlier that Israel had moved 45 of its citizens out of the northern war zone by air and by land.<\/p>\n

DW noted that senior officials have traveled to Mekelle even as the warnings stay in place. On Sunday, the head of Ethiopia’s security agency and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s adviser on East African affairs traveled to the city, DW said.<\/p>\n

DW spoke with a person who works in this field and did not give the person’s name. The person said embassies try to confirm the information they receive when wars or crises break out in the country that hosts them. The person also said the situation now appears to have reached a stage where embassies are going beyond warnings and are making internal plans for how they would move their citizens out if needed.<\/p>\n

Such advisories are aimed at protecting foreign nationals, but DW said they can also slow business, complicate aid work and shape how the world sees a country’s security. The U.S. alert listed the embassy’s number in Addis Ababa as +251 11 130 6000. It gave the State Department’s consular line as +1 202 501 4444 for calls from Ethiopia or overseas, and +1 888 407 4747 for calls from the United States or Canada.<\/p>\n

Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n