Tigrayan forces take control of Ethiopia’s Lalibela, a UN World Heritage site – eyewitnesses

ADDIS ABABA, Aug. 5 (Reuters) – Forces from Ethiopia’s Tigray region have taken control of the town of Lalibela, whose famous rock-hewn churches are a United Nations World Heritage site, and residents were fleeing two eyewitnesses told Reuters on Thursday.

Lalibela, also a holy place for millions of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, is located in the North Wollo area of ​​the Amhara region in northern Ethiopia. In recent weeks, fighting has spread from Tigray to two neighboring regions, Amhara and Afar, forcing an estimated 250,000 people to flee.

Senior United Nations and United States government officials who visited Ethiopia this week have alarmed the spread of the Tigray War to other parts of northern Ethiopia. Read more

Seyfu, a Lalibela resident who spoke to Reuters by phone, said he saw hundreds of armed men speaking Tigrinya, the language of the Tigrayans, pass through the town on Thursday. He said they did not speak Amharic, the language of the people of Lalibela, and wore “different uniforms” from those of the federal army.

Seyfu said forces in the Amhara region, which are allied with Ethiopia’s central government, fled with local officials on Wednesday evening.

“We asked them to stay, or at least give us their Kalashnikovs, but they refused and fled with five ambulances, several trucks and cars. They shot a friend of mine as they were fleeing, begging them to stay to protect civilians, ”he said.

A second man, Dawit, told Reuters by phone that he left Lalibela on Thursday morning as Tigray forces arrived. “We had to walk on foot, about 200 of us left.”

Reuters could not independently verify the eyewitness information. Spokesmen for the prime minister, the Ethiopian military and a government task force on Tigray did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the Tigrayan forces could not be reached for comment either.

Daniel, a third inhabitant of Lalibela, told Reuters by phone that he saw hundreds of soldiers entering the town around noon. He said he fled to the mountains outside the holy city and only women and children were left in the city.

He said there was no fighting in Lalibela when the Tigrayan forces entered.

The United States on Thursday called on Tigrayan forces to respect the city’s cultural heritage, as Washington grows worried about the escalation of the conflict.

“We have seen reports that the Tigrayan forces have taken Lalibela. We call on the TPLF to protect this cultural heritage,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters.

Lalibela is a major tourist destination in Africa’s second most populous country. The number of visitors plunged after war broke out in Tigray in November between the federal army and forces belonging to the Popular Liberation Forces of Tigray (TPLF). Read more

The government declared victory at the end of this month, after seizing the regional capital Mekelle. But the TPLF continued to fight and at the end of June recaptured Mekelle and most of Tigray after the government troops withdrew.

Amhara region vice president Dr Fanta Mandefro told Reuters on Thursday he had no information on the situation in Lalibela, located 310 km (190 miles) east of the capital of Amhara region, Bahir Dar.

Tens of thousands of visitors from all over Ethiopia and abroad typically come to Lalibela on Orthodox Easter weekend, which is home to a UNESCO World Heritage site of 12th and 13th century monolithic churches, to celebrate and attend the most important holiday of the Orthodox calendar.

Report from Addis Ababa Newsroom and Giulia Paravicini in Olbia, Italy; Additional reporting by Daphne Psaledakis in Washington; written by Maggie Fick; Editing by Mark Heinrich, Jon Boyle, William Maclean

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