March 17, 1988 – Eritrean War of Independence: The start of the Battle of Afabet between Eritrean revolutionaries and Ethiopian Army units
For Ethiopia’sDerg regime, the end of Soviet support augured not only at the loss of Eritrea butmore ominously, the end of its own existence. On March 17, 1988, Eritrean revolutionaries of the Eritrean People’sLiberation Front (EPLF), anticipating a major Ethiopian offensive, struck firstat Afabet, this pre-emptive attack dealing the Ethiopian Army a crushing defeatwith 18,000 Ethiopian soldiers killed, wounded or captured; Ethiopia also lostsome of its best-trained units. The EPLFalso seized large stockpiles of weapons and ammunitions. By then, the rebels possessed tanks, armoredcarriers, and armed speedboats, and had advanced from guerilla warfare toopenly fighting in pitched battles.
Ethiopia, Eritrea, and nearby countries.(Taken from Eritrean War of Independence – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 4)
Background InSeptember 1948, a special body called the Inquiry Commission, which was set upby the Allied Powers (Britain,France, Soviet Union, and United States),failed to establish a future course for Eritrea and referred the matter tothe United Nations (UN). The main obstacle to granting Eritrea its independence was that for much ofits history, Eritreawas not a single political sovereign entity but had been a part of andsubordinate to a greater colonial power, and as such, was deemed incapable ofsurviving on its own as a fully independent state. Furthermore, variouscountries put forth competing claims to Eritrea. Italywanted Eritrea returned, tobe governed for a pre-set period until the territory’s independence, anarrangement that was similar to that of Italian Somaliland.The Arab countries of the Middle East pressed for self-determination of Eritrea’s large Muslim population, and as such,called for Eritreato be granted its independence. Britain,as the current administrative power, wanted to partition Eritrea, with the Christian-population regionsto be incorporated into Ethiopiaand the Muslim regions to be assimilated into Sudan. Emperor Haile Selassie, theEthiopian monarch, also claimed ownership of Eritrea, citing historical andcultural ties, as well as the need for Ethiopia to have access to the seathrough the Red Sea (Ethiopia had been landlocked after Italy establishedEritrea).
Ultimately, the United Statesinfluenced the future course for Eritrea. The U.S. government saw Eritreain the regional balance of power in Cold War politics: an independent but weak Eritrea could potentially fall to communist(Soviet) domination, which would destabilize the vital oil-rich Middle East. Unbeknown to the general public at the time,a U.S. diplomatic cable fromEthiopia to the U.S. StateDepartment in August 1949 stated that British officials in Eritrea believed that as much as75% of the local population desired independence.
In February 1950, a UN commission sent to Eritrea to determine the localpeople’s political aspirations submitted its findings to the United NationsGeneral Assembly (UNGA). In December 1950, the UNGA, which was stronglyinfluenced by U.S. wishes,released Resolution 390A (V) that called for establishing a loose federationbetween Ethiopia and Eritrea to be facilitated by Britain and to be realized no laterthan September 15, 1952. The UN plan, which subsequently was implemented,allowed Eritreabroad autonomy in controlling its internal affairs, including localadministrative, police, and fiscal and taxation functions. TheEthiopian-Eritrean Federation would affirm the sovereignty of the Ethiopianmonarch whose government would exert jurisdiction over Eritrea’s foreign affairs, includingmilitary defense, national finance, and transportation.
In March 1952, under British initiative, Eritrea elected a 68-seatRepresentative Assembly, a legislature composed equally of Christians andMuslim members, which subsequently adopted a constitution proposed by the UN.Just days before the September 1952 deadline for federation, the Ethiopiangovernment ratified the Eritrean constitution and upheld Eritrea’s Representative Assemblyas the renamed Eritrean Assembly. On September 15, 1952, the Ethiopian-EritreanFederation was established, and Britainturned over administration to the new authorities, and withdrew from Eritrea.
However, Emperor Haile Selassie was determined to bring Eritrea under Ethiopia’s full authority. Eritrea’shead of government (called Chief Executive who was elected by the EritreanAssembly) was forced to resign, and successors to the post were appointed bythe Ethiopian emperor. Ethiopians were appointed to many high-level Eritreangovernment posts. Many Eritrean political parties were banned and presscensorship was imposed. Amharic, Ethiopia’s official language, was imposed, whileArabic and Tigrayan, Eritrea’smain languages, were replaced with Amharic as the medium for education. Manylocal businesses were moved to Ethiopia,while local tax revenues were sent to Ethiopia. By the early 1960s, Eritrea’sautonomy status virtually had ceased to exist. In November 1962, the EritreanAssembly, under strong pressure from Emperor Haile Selassie, dissolved theEthiopian-Eritrean Federation and voted to incorporate Eritrea as Ethiopia’s14th province.
Eritreans were outraged by these developments. Civiliandissent in the form of rallies and demonstrations broke out, and was dealt withharshly by Ethiopia,causing scores of deaths and injuries among protesters in confrontations withsecurity forces. Opposition leaders, particularly those calling forindependence, were suppressed, forcing many to flee into exile abroad; scoresof their supporters also were jailed. In April 1958, the first organizedresistance to Ethiopian rule emerged with the formation of the clandestineEritrean Liberation Movement (ELM), consisting originally of Eritrean exiles inSudan.At its peak in Eritrea, the ELM had some 40,000 members who organized in cellsof 7 people and carried out a campaign of destabilization, including engagingin some militant actions such as assassinating government officials, aimed atforcing the Ethiopian government to reverse some of its centralizing policiesthat were undercutting Eritrea’s autonomous status under the federatedarrangement with Ethiopia. By 1962, the government’s anti-dissident campaignshad weakened the ELM, although the militant group continued to exist, albeitwith limited success. Also by 1962, another Eritrean nationalist organization,the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF), had emerged, having been organized in July1960 by Eritrean exiles in Cairo, Egypt which in contrast to the ELM, had asits objective the use of armed force to achieve Eritrean’s independence.
In its early years, the ELF leadership, called the “SupremeCouncil”, operated out of Cairoto more effectively spread its political goals to the international communityand to lobby and secure military support from foreign donors.
