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Some residents have fled the city, located in Ethiopia’s Amhara region, when Tigray fighters arrive, Reuters reported on Thursday.
The United States has called on fighters to “protect this cultural heritage,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said Thursday.
CNN has not been able to independently verify reports that Lalibela was captured by Tigrayan fighters.
The Ethiopian government threatened on Friday that it would be forced to respond to Tigrayan forces if they continued to expand into neighboring areas, a foreign ministry statement said.
“The irresponsible group’s action is testing the patience of the federal government and pushing it to change its defensive stance that was taken in the name of the unilateral humanitarian ceasefire,” the statement said.
The statement added that the Ethiopian government is “urged to mobilize and deploy all the defensive capacity of the state if its humanitarian overtures for a peaceful resolution of the conflict remain without reciprocity”, and accuses the Tigrayan fighters of launching “new attacks in neighboring regions. Amhara and Afar, which have left more than 300,000 displaced and thousands dead. “
A second statement directly addressed the reported spillover from the conflict in Amhara, saying people were concerned about the possible destruction of religious and cultural institutions by Tigray forces.
“The government will take all necessary measures to ensure that these sacred places and other institutions are well protected and calls on the international community to condemn this heinous act of the TPLF,” he said.
The war took a major turn when Tigrayan fighters recaptured their regional capital of Mekelle from Ethiopian forces in June, then rejected a last-minute ceasefire offer from the central government.
Since then, the fighting has spread, with TPLF fighters pushing from Tigray to neighboring areas of Amhara and Afar.
CNN has contacted the Amhara regional government, TPLF and UNESCO to comment on the reported capture of Lalibela.
On Thursday, the United States urged all parties to the Ethiopian conflict to avoid further escalations and to call for a ceasefire.
“We also call on all parties to the conflict to end the violence, as I have said before, to initiate talks to achieve a negotiated ceasefire, and the TPLF to immediately withdraw its associated military forces from the United Nations. Amhara and Afar regions, ”Price added. .
“At the same time, we renew our appeals to the Amhara regional government to immediately withdraw its associated military forces from West Tigray, and to the Eritrean government to permanently withdraw its military forces from Ethiopia. All parties, as we have said, should speed up the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid to those affected by the conflict, and the trade blockade on Tigray must end
Asked about the information regarding Lalibela, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said on Thursday that he had not obtained any information on this particular case but “we are aware that there has been an overflow” of the conflict in – beyond the Tigray region.
“Any conflict often starts out as small and, if left unchecked, tends to spill over and expand. And in the meantime, the people paying the price are civilians,” Dujarric said.
During a daily press briefing earlier Thursday, Dujarric warned that although there has been a recent entry of aid and supplies into Tigray, “it is still insufficient, with around 100 trucks needed each day. to help 5.2 million people in need “.
“Trucks are coming, but we see looted trucks. Trucks are also delayed,” he added, referring to food trucks for humanitarian aid.
He said that as of Wednesday, 175 trucks containing humanitarian supplies including food, non-food items and fuel had arrived in Mekelle, the capital of Tigray. “These include 50 trucks that entered Tigray in the last month and the remaining trucks have only crossed in the past few days,” Dujarric said.
“These are among at least 223 trucks with humanitarian supplies for the UN and international NGOs that left Semera, the capital of Afar region, towards Mekelle. Most of the remaining trucks are scanned at a checkpoint and a few trucks are in Abala, the last point of entry into Tigray. “
He said two trucks were reportedly blocked by civilians and looted at a checkpoint in Afar, 97 km from Semera, on July 28.
CNN’s Bethlehem Feleke and Larry Madowo in Nairobi contributed reporting.
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