In Ethiopia, Tigrayan rebels re-control the town of Lalibela

Published on : 12/13/2021 – 07:50

The front lines continue to move in Ethiopia. The Tigrayan rebels took back control of Lalibela, an emblematic city in northern Ethiopia, which is home to a UNESCO World Heritage Site, on Sunday, December 12, eleven days after the government announced it had seized it.

Residents contacted by AFP on Sunday afternoon said that fighters from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) had entered this town in the Amhara region. “They are in the city center, there was no fighting,” said one resident. Another said: “They have come back. They are already there.”

Cut off communication

On Sunday evening, the Tigrai-TV channel, linked to the TPLF, announced that Tigray troops “have taken Lalibela airport and the town of Lalibela”, as well as Gashena, a locality located about sixty kilometers to the south. The government did not immediately respond to AFP’s requests.

Communications are cut off in combat zones and journalists’ access is restricted, making it difficult to independently verify positions on the ground.

On December 1, the government announced that it had taken over Lalibela, a town famous for its monolithic churches which had come under rebel control in August.

AFP visited the town last week, when it was secured by Amhara special forces and fighters from the Amhara Fano militia.

According to the second witness interviewed on Sunday, these pro-government forces have moved south towards Gashena, where fighting has been reported in recent days.

In Lalibela, “most people are afraid”

Earlier on Sunday, a statement from the military leadership of the TPLF announced that its fighters had “carried out comprehensive counter-offensives” at several points, notably along the road from Lalibela to Gashena.

“Our forces first defended and then carried out counter-offensives against the enormous force attacking the Gashena front and the surrounding areas and managed to achieve a glorious and unexpected victory,” the statement added.

In Lalibela, “most people are afraid,” said one of the residents interviewed on Sunday: “Some are running away. Most people have already left because there could be revenge. We expressed our happiness. when (the TPLF) left “.

The government has been carrying out a “counter-offensive” in recent weeks to regain ground from the rebels, which it has been fighting for more than a year in northern Ethiopia.

War erupted in November 2020, after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent the army to the northern Tigray region to remove local authorities from the TPLF who challenged his authority and accused him for attacking military bases.

Population in “critical food assistance situation”

Abiy Ahmed proclaimed victory three weeks later, after the capture of the regional capital Mekele.

But in June, the TPLF retook most of Tigray, then advanced into the neighboring regions of Afar and Amhara, where they claimed, in early November, to have captured the towns of Dessie and Kombolcha, a strategic crossroads on the road leading to the capital.

On November 25, Abiy Ahmed announced that he would go to the front in person to lead the “counter-offensive”.

Since then, the government has announced that it has regained ground, including Dessie and Kombolcha. The TPLF claims not to have been defeated militarily but to have made strategic withdrawals.

Returned to Addis Ababa on Wednesday, Abiy Ahmed returned to the front lines, the Prime Minister’s office announced in a tweet on Saturday evening.

The government also claimed to have taken over several areas of Afar and Amhara. He announced in particular to have “cut the main highway” between the city of Woldiya and Mekele.

More than 13 months of conflict have ravaged northern Ethiopia and left 9.4 million people “in critical food aid”, according to the UN.

The UN estimates that 5.2 million people are in need of emergency food aid in Tigray, 3.7 million in Amhara and 534,000 in Afar.

With AFP