Members of the Ethiopian parliament approved on Thursday a state of emergency declared by the government to tackle threats to Ethiopia's constitutional order.

The parliament approved the declaration as fighting escalated between the Ethiopian forces and the Tigray People's Liberation Front  (TPLF), the Ethiopian state-run Fana news agency reported. The TPLF had declared its intention to advance toward Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital.

"The emergency law, which became effective as of Tuesday, aims to protect civilians from atrocities being committed by the terrorist TPLF Group in several parts of Ethiopia," Gedion Timothewos Hessebon, the Ethiopian minister of justice, said Thursday.

US staff authorized to leave Ethiopia

Earlier today, the US embassy in Ethiopia authorized the voluntary departure of non-emergency US government employees and family members of emergency and non-emergency employees from Ethiopia due to armed conflict, civil unrest, and possible supply shortages, the embassy said on its website.

The US had previously 'strongly suggested' that its nationals "seriously reconsider travel to Ethiopia" and those currently in the country to consider making preparations to leave.

US State Department announced Wednesday that US Envoy for the Horn of Africa Jeffrey Feltman would travel to Ethiopia on Thursday for a two-day visit out of "growing concern over violence in the country’s northern Tigray region."

Ethiopia had declared Tuesday a state of emergency after the TPLF expressed their intent to advance toward Addis Ababa after capturing Dessie, a city in the Amhara region.