Authorities called for the massive rally after the United States imposed restrictions on aid over the northern Tigray conflict. Protesters also voiced support for the controversial Nile dam.
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Thousands of Ethiopians on Sunday gathered in their capital, Addis Ababa, to protest international pressure on the government over the conflict in Tigray.
The Ministry of Women, Children and Youth organized the rallies in Addis Ababa, and around the country, under the banner "Our voice for freedom and sovereignty."
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"We will not submit," Adanech Abiebe, the mayor of Addis Ababa, told the thousands in attendance.
"The US and its allies have to stop and consider the wisdom, as well as correct the preconditions, they have imposed on our internal affairs."
Officials had earlier said they expected more than one million to attend nationwide, with at least 100,000 in Addis Ababa alone.
Turnout figures were not immediately available.
Ethiopia under pressure
Ethiopia has come under increasing international pressure over the conflict in Tigray.
The US restrictions also include barring current or former Ethiopian or Eritrean officials and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) members that Washington deems responsible for the crisis.
The Ethiopian government called the US action "misguided" and "regrettable."
Ethiopia: Tigrayans flee as fresh conflict erupts
Tens of thousands of Tigrayans are being driven from their homes by the Amhara militia. The latest conflict was sparked by a historic land dispute. Local towns are struggling to cope with the exodus.
Image: Baz Ratner/REUTERS
A temporary home
11-year-old Asmara holds her 1-year-old brother Barakat at the doorway to their living space at Tsehaye primary school in the town of Shire, which has been turned into a temporary shelter. Four months after the Ethiopian government declared victory over the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), tens of thousands of Tigrayans are again being forced to flee their homes.
Image: Baz Ratner/REUTERS
Waiting for food
Displaced Tigrayans queue for food at the temporary shelter. These people weren't driven from their homes by fighting between the Ethiopian government and the rebels. According to witnesses and members of Tigray's new administration, regional forces and militiamen from neighboring Amhara are now violently trying to settle a decades-old land dispute in the Tigray region.
Image: Baz Ratner/REUTERS
Disputed territory
The town of Adigrat in Tigray, which is also considered a strategically important gateway to Eritrea. Amhara officials say about a quarter of Tigrayan land was taken from them during the almost 30 years that the TPLF dominated power in the region. However, Tigrayan officials say the area is home to both ethnic groups and the borders are set by the constitution.
Image: Baz Ratner/REUTERS
On patrol
Ethiopian soldiers on the back of a truck near Adigrat. Fighters from Amhara first entered Tigray in support of federal Ethiopian forces during the TPLF conflict. They have remained in the region since the fighting subsided, with local officials accusing them of driving out Tigrayans.
Image: Baz Ratner/REUTERS
Basic comforts
A man carries mattresses into the Tsehaye primary school in Shire. The latest territorial dispute threatens to worsen an already precarious humanitarian situation. According to Tewodros Aregai, the interim head of Shire’s northwestern zone, the town was already hosting 270,000 people before the latest influx of refugees and is running out of food and shelter.
Image: Baz Ratner/REUTERS
New arrivals
A bus carrying displaced Tigrayans arrives in Shire. It is difficult to verify the exact number of people who have fled in recent weeks, as some have been displaced several times. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says some 1,000 arrive in Shire every day, while the Norwegian Refugee Council says between 140,000-185,000 arrived over a two-week period in March.
Image: Baz Ratner/REUTERS
From campus to shelter
Displaced Tigrayans try to make themselves at home at the Shire campus of Aksum University, which has also been turned into a temporary shelter. The four centers set up in the town to house new refugees are almost full. Some families squeeze into classrooms, halls and half-finished buildings, while others make do camping under tarpaulins or on open ground.
Image: Baz Ratner/REUTERS
Holding loved ones close
A woman holds an infant inside a temporary refugee shelter at the Adiha secondary school in Tigray's capital, Mekelle. Many of the Tigrayans who have fled their homes have described attacks, looting and threats by Amhara gunmen, with some bearing scars from their ordeal.
Image: Baz Ratner/REUTERS
An echo of conflict
A burned-out tank near the town of Adwa stands as a stark reminder of the simmering conflict in the Tigray region. The United Nations has already warned of possible war crimes taking place in Tigray, while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said ethnic cleansing is taking place and called on Amhara forces to withdraw from Tigray.
Image: Baz Ratner/REUTERS
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The country has also sparked international disputes over the filling of the (GERD).
Ethiopia says the dam's electricity is needed to develop its economy, while Sudan and Egypt say it violates their rights to Nile waters downriver.
Ethiopia has said it will push ahead with a second phase of filling in July and August, even if no agreement has been reached with Sudan and Egypt.
Crisis continues in Tigray
In November, Ethiopia accused former leaders of the TPLF of ordering an attack on an Ethiopian army base in the region.
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops who quickly ousted the TPLF from major cities and towns.
Ahmed had vowed the conflict would be brief. However, guerrilla fighting is still reported across Tigray, with at least 2 million people displaced by the war as well reports of other atrocities.
Eritrean troops, who teamed up with the Ethiopian military, have also been implicated in multiple massacres during the Tigray conflict.
Both the nations have announced the withdrawal of troops, which is yet to take effect.