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Residents report gunfire in Ethiopian holy city, but govt says all peaceful

Residents report gunfire in Ethiopian holy city, but govt says all peaceful

FIGHTING broke out between the army and a regional militia in Ethiopia's mediaeval holy city of Lalibela, a World Heritage site, four residents told Reuters, but the government said the area was peaceful. Fano, a part-time militia in the northern Amhara region which has no formal command structure, has been battling the army since late July. It captured Lalibela, famous for its rock-hewn churches, and Gondar, the second-biggest city in Amhara, for several days in August before being repulsed. The fighting, which has killed hundreds of people, is the biggest security challenge faced by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed since the Tigray war ended…
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Ethiopian govt recaptures U.N. World Heritage site

Ethiopian govt recaptures U.N. World Heritage site

ETHIOPIAN government forces and their regional allies have recaptured the town of Lalibela - a United Nations World Heritage Site - from Tigrayan forces, the prime minister's office has announced. Forces aligned with the Tigray People's Liberation Front had taken control of the town, in the Amhara region, in early August. "The historic town of Lalibela has been liberated and cleared off TPLF occupation," Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's office said in a tweet. TPLF spokesperson Getachew Reda could not be immediately reached for comment. Lalibela is home to ancient rock-hewn churches and a holy site for millions of Ethiopian Orthodox…
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Tigrayan forces take UN World Heritage Site

Tigrayan forces take UN World Heritage Site

FORCES from Ethiopia's Tigray region have taken control of the town of Lalibela, whose famed rock-hewn churches are a United Nations World Heritage Site, and residents were fleeing, two eyewitnesses told Reuters on Thursday. Lalibela, also a holy site for millions of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, is in the North Wollo Zone of the Amhara region in Ethiopia's north. In recent weeks fighting has spread from Tigray into two neighbouring regions, Amhara and Afar, forcing around 250,000 people to flee. Senior officials from the United Nations and the United States government who visited Ethiopia this week raised alarm at the widening…
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Pandemic and war hit tourism in Lalibela, holy Ethiopian site

Pandemic and war hit tourism in Lalibela, holy Ethiopian site

AS they have done for hundreds of years on the Orthodox Easter weekend, priests wrapped in traditional white robes read the Bible by candlelight on Saturday evening in the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela in northern Ethiopia. The ancient ritual has been a tourist draw in recent years. Tens of thousands of visitors from around Ethiopia and abroad usually come to Lalibela, home to a UNESCO World Heritage site of 12th and 13th-century monolithic churches, to celebrate and witness the most important holiday in the Orthodox calendar. But they were missing this year. Even many local worshippers stayed home, reflecting the…
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