The historic town of Lalibela had been recaptured by rebellious Tigrayan forces, Reuters agency reported on Sunday, citing witnesses, less than two weeks after government forces and their allies took control on December 1.
The Tigray forces took control of the town without any exchange of fire, the news agency reported.
One witness told the Reuters that forces allied to the federal government began leaving Lalibela on Saturday night.
“The last batch left this morning. We heard gunshots from a distance last night but the Tigrayan forces recaptured Lalibela without firing guns in the town,” the witness is quoted as saying.
Lalibela, as such, is not thought to be of great strategic military value as this town of 20,000 inhabitants is not located at important road junctions. But it is extremely symbolic, known for its rock hewn churches classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
More significant is Gashena town, which is found 59 kilometers from Lalibela along major roads, where intense fighting was reported as TPLF forces engaged federal troops.
The government has not yet commented on the reported recapture of the town.
Residents of Lalibela told Agence France-Presse that the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) forces had treated historic church well during their four months stay in the town, but did not deny that they had made life difficult for them, knocking on homes at all hours and demanding mobile phones and food.
A Lalibela resident who spoke to the news agency yesterday said many residents of the town fled for fear of reprisals.
“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.”
Ethiopian government troops took over Lalibela two weeks ago, driving out the TPLF forces who had been in control of the town since the beginning of August. The town was freed a week after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed went in to battle to lead the fight against the Tigray rebels.
