Residents say Tigray rebels take control of UNESCO site Lalibela

Development indicates the rebels are continuing a weeks-long push beyond Tigray.

Rebels from Ethiopia’s war-hit Tigray region have seized Lalibela, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the neighbouring Amhara region famed for its 12th-century rock-hewn churches, residents told the AFP news agency. Thursday’s development indicates the rebels are continuing a weeks-long push beyond Tigray that has, according to Ethiopian officials, displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians. Tigray has been racked by fighting since last November, when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops to topple the government of Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a regional party that dominated national politics before Abiy took office in 2018.