Tigray rebels recaptured the north Ethiopian town of Lalibela, home to a Unesco World Heritage site, 11 days after Ethiopian forces said they had taken over control, local residents said.
It marks another dramatic twist in the 13 month long conflict that has killed thousands of people and triggered a deep humanitarian crisis in the north of Africa's second most populous nation.
Lalibela, located 400 miles north of Addis Ababa, is home to 11 medieval monolithic cave churches hewn into the red rock and is a key pilgrimage site for Ethiopian Christians.
A resident said there was no fighting in the town centre, and Tigrayan fighters are in the town centre.
They came back. They are already here, said a second resident, who appeared to have come from the east, in the direction of Woldiya.
Most of the population are scared. Some are running away. Most of the people left because there might be a revenge. We expressed our happiness before when the junta left. Access for journalists is restricted and communications have been cut in the conflict zone, making it difficult to verify the claims.
The Tigray People's Liberation Front TPLF rebel group s military leadership said in a statement shared with pro-TPLF media that they had launched comprehensive counter-offensives in numerous locations including along the road linking Gashena and Lalibela.
Our forces first defended and then carried out counter-offensives against the huge force that was attacking on the Gashena front and surrounding areas, and managed to achieve a glorious and astonishing victory, it said.
The government did not respond to requests for comment.
In a tweet late on Saturday, the office of the prime minister said Abiy Ahmed had headed to the front again and forces under his leadership had captured several strategic locations in Afar and Amhara, including the towns of Arjo, Fokisa and Boren.
In November 2020 Abiy sent troops into Ethiopia's northernmost region of Tigray to topple the TPLF after months of seething tensions with the group that had dominated politics for three decades before he took office.
He said that the move was in response to attacks on army camps by the TPLF, and he promised a swift victory.
But the rebels launched a shock comeback, recapturing most of Tigray by June before moving into the neighbouring regions of Amhara and Afar.
Fears of a rebel march on Addis Ababa prompted countries including the US, France and Britain to urge their citizens to leave Ethiopia as soon as possible, although Abiy s government said the city was secure.
The fighting has displaced more than 2 million and caused hundreds of thousands into famine-like conditions, according to UN estimates, with reports of massacres and mass rapes by both sides.
The intense diplomatic efforts taken by the African Union to reach a ceasefire have failed to achieve any tangible breakthrough.
The United Nations says that 9.4 million people have been affected by the conflict over the past 13 months, which has resulted in a critical situation of aid in the regions of Amhara, Afar and Tigray.