The US military has been using a base in Arba Minch, some 400km
(250 miles) south of the capital, Addis Ababa, to launch the remotely-piloted
aircraft since 2011.
At the time the US
told the BBC that the drones were being used only for surveillance and not for
air strikes.
They were part of
US counter-terrorism efforts in East Africa aimed at groups with links to
al-Qaeda.
But the US may have used its military base in
Djibouti, which is still operational, to launch these missions.
An official from the US embassy in Addis Ababa told
the BBC in an email that following talks with the Ethiopian government "we
reached a mutual decision that our presence in Arba Minch is not required at
this time".
The official added that "it is important to
know that our presence at Arba Minch was never meant to be permanent".
Ethiopia is seen as a
close ally of the US in the region, and has soldiers in Somalia supporting the
government there in its fight against al-Shabab.
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