Rebels from Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region have taken control of the town of Lalibela, a Unesco world heritage site in neighbouring Amhara region Africa Daily News, New York can confirm.
Lalibela, home to 13th Century churches hewn from rock, is a holy site for millions of Orthodox Christians around the world.
Residents have been fleeing the rebel advance, local officials told the reporters.
Thousands have been killed since war broke out last November. Fighting is now spreading into Amhara and Afar, another region bordering Tigray.
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Millions of people have also been displaced.
Both the Tigray rebel forces and the Ethiopian army and its allies have been accused of committing human rights abuses and war crimes.
The deputy mayor of Lalibela, Mandefro Tadesse, told reporters that the town was under the control of the Tigray rebels.
He said there had not been any shooting, but residents were fleeing from the town and he was concerned about the safety of the historic churches.
There are 11 medieval monolithic cave churches carved out of rock that date from the 12th and 13th Centuries. They were built as a substitute for pilgrimages to the Holy Land, which was unreachable at the time.
‘This is the world’s heritage, and we must cooperate to guarantee that this treasure is preserved,’ Mr Mandefro said.
The spreading fighting follows significant territorial gains made by the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in June, including capturing the Tigray regional capital Mekelle after Ethiopian troops withdrew and the government declared a unilateral ceasefire.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
