1960s The
Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) was founded in 1961 by a handful of exiled Eritreans, and began guerrilla operations against the
Imperial Government in the fashion of the traditional bandits of that province. By 1966, it had a free hand in much of the barren lowlands in western and coastal Eritrea. The movement enjoyed military aid from various Arab countries as virtually all of its leaders were Muslims from the
Beni Amer tribe. However, the leadership of the ELF was often inept; and communications between roving guerrilla bands and the exiled leaders were sporadic at best. Nonetheless, it was able to infiltrate small arms and returning trainees by way of
Sudan and harass Imperial forces in Eritrea. The ELF was mostly made up of Muslims, as the ELF perceived itself as an Islamic organization engaged in freeing Eritrea, which it described as predominantly Muslim and Arab. However, it was unable to gain the support of the Christian Eritreans, who perceived it an Islamist movement attempting to turn Eritrea into an Arab Muslim state. The Imperial Ethiopian Army, whose Second Division was based in
Eritrea, made periodic sweeps through the countryside. The Israeli trained commando police were more efficient than the army. But the commando police was too few in number to protect important installations and also pursue the insurgents. And the 6,000 man strong Second Division, although better equipped and numerically superior, was less efficient than the Eritrean police. It was mostly composed of Ethiopians from the provinces outside of Eritrea, the Ethiopian soldiers lacked knowledge of the area and of the people. Their normal tactics were to burn villages, shoot suspects and destroy livestock—the traditional Ethiopian response to dissidence. The leader of the umbrella organization was Secretary-General of the EPLF
Romodan Mohammed Nur, while the Assistant Secretary-General was
Isaias Afewerki. The EPLF began to fight a bitter
civil war against the ELF. The two organizations were forced by popular will to reconcile in 1975 and participate in joint operations against Ethiopia. The ELF was supported diplomatically and militarily by various countries, particularly
China, which supplied the ELF with weapons and training until 1972, when Ethiopia recognized Beijing as the legitimate government of China. In 1974, Emperor
Haile Selassie was ousted in a coup. The collapse of the Ethiopian Empire coincided with the end of the Eritrean civil war. The new Ethiopian government, called the
Derg, was a Marxist military
junta. Between June and mid-November 1974, the
Derg, then under the control of the Eritrean-born General
Aman Andom, declared a cease-fire in Eritrea. The cease-fire aimed to persuade Eritreans to lay down their arms and find a political solution to the conflict. Despite this, conflicting policies emerged within the Ethiopian leadership: one advocating for a military solution in Eritrea and the other supporting a political solution by granting substantial concessions to the Eritreans. However, the assassination of Andom and other officials by the Derg regime on November 24, 1974, marked the end to the pursuit of a political resolution. Subsequently, under Vice Chairman Lt. Colonel
Mengistu Haile Mariam, the Ethiopian government shifted towards pacifying the Eritreans with brute force. This shift led to a period of terror in
Asmara, with more than 50 individuals killed by the military by the end of 1974, fostering an atmosphere of fear. in
Massawa, Eritrea|left From 1975 to 1977, the ELF and EPLF outnumbered the
Ethiopian army, and managed to overrun an Ethiopian garrison at the
Siege of Nakfa. This heavily demoralized the Ethiopian garrisons throughout Eritrea and within the next few months, the EPLF took control of
Afabet,
Keren,
Elabored, and
Dekemhare. Similarly, the ELF seized control of
Omhajer,
Teseney,
Agordat,
Mendefera, and
Adi Quala. All of Eritrea was liberated with the exception of
Asmara,
Massawa,
Assab and
Barentu. In 1977 the Eritrean insurgency had taken advantage of the Derg's preoccupation with war for the
Ogaden against the
Western Somali Liberation Front and
Somali National Army. Immediately after the
Ogaden War ended, the Ethiopian army, with
Cuban support, reoriented to Eritrea and forced the ELF and EPLF out of many areas they had liberated in the prior months. Using the considerable manpower and military hardware available from the Somali campaign, the Ethiopian Army regained the initiative. Notable military engagements occurred in this period such as the
Siege of Barentu and the
First Battle of Massawa. The Eritreans would not regain the initiative until 1984. After the comparative lull of 1980–81, 1982 was to be the worst year of war in
Eritrea to date, in which the government made an all-out attempt to crush the EPLF. It was named the
Red Star Campaign in response to the planned US "
Bright Star" exercises in the Middle East.
Mengistu Haile Mariam then went to
Asmara to personally oversee the offensive himself. The Red Star Campaign involved the largest number of troops ever deployed in Eritrea—more than 80,000 were involved in the attacks on the EPLF base areas. The forcefully conscripted soldiers in the Ethiopian ranks were used for massive assaults on the EPLF positions around Nakfa, in the hope that sheer weight of numbers would overrun the rebel lines. The offensive involved an unprecedented use of air power and toxic gas. The EPLF had to equip its fighters with homemade gas masks. Despite inflicting devastating casualties on the EPLF, the Ethiopians failed to breakthrough the rebel lines. The Red Star offensive failed. By May 1982, it had failed to capture
Nakfa, and it was unofficially abandoned on June 20. The EPLF was even able to counter-attack and push government lines back. Having been launched with huge publicity, the offensive ended in complete silence from the government media. In 1983, the government launched an offensive in March on the Halhal front, north of
Keren. Known as the "Stealth Offensive" because of the lack of publicity surrounding it, government forces succeeded in overrunning EPLF lines, but not in inflicting a significant defeat on the rebels. By this point, Ethiopian forces had suffered 90,000 casualties. In 1986, the
Derg launched the “Red Sea Offensive” and attacked the frontlines of the EPLF with the aim of capturing Nakfa. Despite extensive air support and the use of airborne troops in the
Sahel, the Ethiopians were repelled. As insurgencies in
Tigray,
Wollo and other parts of Ethiopia began to grow worse, the government no longer had the resources to conduct massive offensives in Eritrea and had to focus on other regions as well. In 1988, with the
Battle of Afabet, the EPLF captured Afabet and its surroundings, then headquarters of the Ethiopian Army in northeastern Eritrea, prompting the Ethiopian Army to withdraw from its garrisons in
Tessenei,
Barentu and
Agordat leaving all of western and northern Eritrea into EPLF hands. EPLF fighters then moved into position around Keren, Eritrea's second-largest city.
1990s tanks in Ethiopian capital,
Addis Abeba. The
Soviet Union informed Mengistu that it would not be renewing its defence and cooperation agreement. With the cessation of Soviet support and supplies, the Ethiopian Army's morale plummeted, and the EPLF, along with other Ethiopian rebel forces, began to advance on Ethiopian positions. In February 1990, the EPLF launched
Operation Fenkil to capture the city of
Massawa. The Ethiopian garrison initially put up fierce resistance until the EPLF used naval units to flak the Ethiopians. The Eritreans were able to overcome the Ethiopian defences and capture the city. Following the capture of
Massawa by the EPLF, the Ethiopian government launched a devastating air raid on the city. The use of
cluster bombs killed hundreds of civilians. In 1991, the
Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) had begun advancing towards the capital, forcing
Mengistu Haile Mariam to flee the country. By May 1991, the rebels had captured
Addis Ababa and overthrown the government. Around the same time, the Ethiopian garrison in
Asmara disintegrated, with tens of thousands of fighters surrendering or deserting, allowing the EPLF fighters to enter the city on May 24. The last battle took place on May 25 in
Assab, when the EPLF defeated the last remnants of government loyalists. == Foreign backing ==