The Debre Elias Ethiopian Orthodox Tewhado monastery located in Ethiopia’s Amhara region is being pounded with heavy weaponry, sources in the area disclosed to Mereja TV on Monday.
The sources also disclosed the army is warning residents living inside the monastery through loudspeakers that it is preparing to attack the area with warplanes.
The Mereja TV sources further disclosed large parts of the Debre Elias monastery have been destroyed by shelling from the Ethiopian army. The material damage reportedly includes a hall inside the church as well as precious religious manuscripts.
The local sources have told Mereja TV the Ethiopian army has been pounding the monastery for the last five days and that two dozen truckloads of military reinforcements have arrived in the area today.
The Ethiopian government is so far silent on the reported ongoing shelling of the Debre Elias monastery which was founded in the 15th century.
However, local sources say that the Ethiopian army is telling nearby residents it is pounding Debre Elias monastery on the accusation that it is hosting “bandits”.
Debre Elias monastery, located in the East Gojjam zone of the Amhara region, has for centuries been one of the centers of higher education for Ethiopian Orthodox Tewhado Church clergy.
The monastery also taught students the arts of music, choreography, poetry, theology, astrology, and philosophy.
