Less than two weeks after government forces and their allies took control of the UNESCO World Heritage town, Tigray rebels have recaptured the north Ethiopian town of Lalibela according to local residents.
Tigrayan fighters ‘are in the town centre, there’s no fighting,’ said a resident reached by telephone on Sunday afternoon.
‘They came back. They’re already here,’ said another, adding that they appeared to have come from the east, in the direction of Waldia.
‘The population, most of the people are scared. Some are running away. Most of the people, they already left because there might be a revenge. We expressed our happiness before when the junta left.’
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Lalibela is home to 11 medieval rock-cut churches and a site of pilgrimage for the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) rebel group’s military leadership said in a statement shared with pro-TPLF media they had launched ‘widespread counter-offensives’ in numerous locations including along the road linking Gashena and Lalibela.
Africa Daily News, New York has last month reported that UN aid chief Martin Griffiths and the African Union’s envoy for the Horn of Africa, Olusegun Obasanjo visited the northern Tigray region of Ethiopia to discuss humanitarian access and a possible ceasefire in the year-long conflict.
Mr Obasanjo, a former Nigerian president and Mr Griffiths were in the regional capital Mekelle at the same time.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
