Feb. 16 (UPI) — Ethiopia declared a state of emergency Friday citing a wave of anti-government protests one day after Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn abruptly resigned.
The Council of Ministers made the announcement through state broadcaster EBC.
The state of emergency went into effect Friday, though the council did not reveal how long it would last. The government ended a 10-month state of emergency in August, but it did little to quell three years of protests, the BBC reported.
Desalegn, 52, led Ethiopia since 2012, but said his resignation as both prime minister and leader of the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front coalition is “vital in the bid to carry out reforms that would lead to sustainable peace and democracy.”
Hundreds of people have died in three years of anti-government protests centered around Ethiopia’s two largest regions, Oromia and Amhara.
