Ethiopia has declared a state of emergency following months of often violent anti-government protests, especially in the restive Oromia region.
"A state of emergency has been declared because the situation posed a threat against the people of the country," Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said on state-run television on Sunday.
Local media said the state of emergency, declared for the first time in 25 years, will last for six months.
What is triggering Ethiopia's unrest?
Earlier on Sunday, the state Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation reported that the state of emergency was effective as of Saturday evening as a means to "deal with anti-peace elements that have allied with foreign forces and are jeopardising the peace and security of the country".
It added that the Council of Ministers discussed the damage by the protests across the country and declared the state of emergency in a message delivered to Hailemariam.
Al Jazeera's Fahmida Miller, reporting from Mombasa, said that people were concerned about "the powers this state of emergency allows the prime minister to have".
"The security forces for example will now fall under the prime minister's control specifically. And if we look back over the last year, things like the internet have been blocked to prevent people communicating and allowing these protests to continue," she said.
