Fresh fighting between the Ethiopian army and a local militia in the northern Amhara region has raised concerns among residents for the safety of historic rock-hewn churches in the holy town of Lalibela. Fano militiamen over-ran Lalibela and Gondar, the second-biggest city in the Amhara region, for several days in August in Ethiopia's most serious security crisis since a two-year civil war in neighbouring Tigray ended a year ago. On Sunday, Ethiopian soldiers fired heavy weapons 11 times from locations near the churches, a deacon said, sending damaging shockwaves through one of the subterranean monuments, which date back to the 12th and 13th Centuries.