FLIGHTS SUSPENDED TO ETHIOPIAN HOLY TOWN OF LALIBELA AS FIGHTING EXPANDS. (PHOTO)
Flights suspended to Ethiopian holy town of Lalibela as fighting expands
Flights to the historic Ethiopian town of Lalibela were suspended on Thursday due to fighting nearby, seven sources said, as residents in the Tigray region to the north stocked up on food and cash, fearing that renewed fighting could trigger another major war.
Tigrayan forces seized three local airports and launched attacks in Afar and Amhara regions with allies there this week, in the most serious escalation since a devastating 2020-22 war against Ethiopian government troops.
In its first public comments on the fighting, Ethiopia's army said on Thursday that it had foiled the attacks and killed, wounded or captured more than 500 enemy fighters.
The United Nations and the European Union called for restraint and a return to the African Union-brokered peace process that had ended a conflict that killed hundreds of thousands of people.
Addis Ababa has accused the region's rulers, the Tigray People's Liberation Front, of launching a major offensive. TPLF leaders said they had entered a "defensive" war to counter aggression by the federal government, which they said had used drones, artillery and ground forces against them.
Renewed war in Tigray could further destabilise the Horn of Africa region already unsettled by deteriorating ties between Ethiopia and Eritrea, Sudan's civil war, frictions over Red Sea access, and spillover from Middle East conflicts.
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