20 Sep 2018 | 03:19 PM UTC
Ethiopia: Internet restored in Addis Ababa September 19
Internet services restored on September 19 following imposed cut by authorities
Event
Local reports indicate that internet services were restored in the capital Addis Ababa on Wednesday, September 19, after authorities temporarily shut off access the day before in response to fatal protests. The outage lasted for approximately 40 hours. Further outages remain possible in the event of further protests and can be implemented with little warning.
Context
Protests broke out in Addis Ababa on September 17 to denounce recent intercommunal violence in the Oromia region. Youths believed to be Oromo nationalists from the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) carried out attacks in the localities of Burayu and Ashewa Meda (Oromia region) September 15-16, killing at least 23 people and prompting scores of residents to flee. Addis Ababa residents also protested September 16 in front of the national ETV broadcaster, calling for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.
Advice
Individuals in Addis Ababa are advised to monitor the situation, avoid all protests and large public gatherings as a precaution, and adhere to all instructions issued by the local authorities. Government-imposed internet outages in response to local unrest are not rare; it is advisable to make alternative arrangements for communications in anticipation of possible service cuts.
