Civil War

ህ ግንባርን ጀብሃን፣ ብዘይካ ናይ ስልጣን ቁርቊስ ናይ ስነ ሓሳብ ፍልልይ ኣይነበረንን። ብሰንኪ ዘይሓላፍነታውያን ከዳዓት መሪሕነት ናይ ክልቲኡ ውድባት ክንደይ ንጹሕ ተጋደላይ ጸኒቱ። ዶ/ር ኢዮብ ገ/ልኡል

The consequence of the 1970s and 1980s civil War, and accusations against leaders

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ጀብሃ ን ሻዕቢያ ኩሎም ሐደ

What people were doing before 1970 was to democratise the nature of the ELF organisation from within, bring new ideas, and criticise their practices. Unfortunately the ELF leadership resorted to physical liquidation of all people who were coming with new ideas. This physical liquidation within the ELF intensified the opposition. Finally there was no other choice except to break away from this organisation and found a new organisation which could meet the demands and aspiration of the people (p.130) Firebrace, James ( 1984)Issayas explained why the EPLF split from the ELF in the following words

However, this is untrue. As mention earlier, the EPLF was founded in power competition by the EPLF leaders ( Sabba and Issayas) with the ELF leaders ( Idris Mohamed Adem and Abdella Idris). After the formation of the EPLF groups (1 and 2) in the early 1970, the ELF leaders instead of solving their differences in dialogue with the EPLF leaders, the ELF leaders who were elected at the First National Congress passed a resolution to take military action against the EPLF similar to the decision passed by the ELF Supreme Council against the Haraka in 1965.

Herui Tedla Bairu, first vice president ; Abdalla Idris Mohammed,second vice president

Herui Tedla Bairu who was elected vice-chairman of the Revolutionary Council in 1971 following in his father's footsteps, participated in the decision to liqidate the EPLF in1972(Killon, 1998:251) This caused for the two years civil and an estimated 3, 000 casualities among the fighters more deaths among the combatants than the entire thirteen years of government military actions to 1991( Human Rights Watch 1991:42). The ELF, under the military command of Abdalla Idris, denounced the new organzation

The ELF passed a series of resolutions on Februrary 29, 1972 aimed at liquidating its rivals.(Sherman 1980: 81) which was caused a civil war 1972-1974. During the civil war(1972-1974) more than a thousand lives lost because of power rivalry between the ELF and EPLF leaders. According to the Human Rights Watch (1991). The two years of internecine strife between the two movements, which caused an estimated 3,000 casualties among the fighters - more deaths among the combatants than the entire thirteen years of government military actions to date. Purges within the two fronts also saw a number of people murdered. A battle between the two fronts at Wolki in October 1974 left 600 fighters dead, and caused a spontaneous demonstration by the citizens of Asmara, who marched to the battlefield and demanded that the fronts settle their differences by negotiation ( Human Rights Watch 1991, 42). Markakis ( 1987: 138)also states that in October 1974, a newly arrived ELF-PLF unit stationed in the village of Zager, 18 km from Asmara, clashed with an ELF unit from the nearby village of Woki. A murderous battle ensued lasting several days, with heavy casualties on both side.

Abdalla Idris Mohammed, ELFsecond vice president Herui Tedla Bairu, ELF first vice president Issayas, ELF-PLF (Ala group) leader Idris Mohamed Adem, ELF President Osman.S.Sabbe, EPLF Foreign Mission

ELF and EPLF leaders who should be blamed for the death of 3000 fighters in the civil war 1972-1974

After the ceasefire agreement between the ELF and EPLF in 1974, there was an on-off confrontation fighting between the ELF and EPLF which caused the death of some fighters on both sides. This confrontation stopped for some time after the 20th of October unity agreement between the ELF and EPLF leaders in 1977.

The agreement which reached between the two fronts’ leaders was not a genuine unity agreement but was a tactical agreement similar to what happened among the opposition leaders from 1999 to present. As a result of this tacticl unity agreement a long power rivalry between the EPLF leader ( Issayas ) and the ELF leader ( Abdella Idris) the EPLF leaders took military action against the ELF in 1981.

The military action which was taken by the EPLF led to civil war that caused the deaths of many fighters on both sides. This was the ELF Supreme Council’s legacy of military action against Haraka in 1965. Mengesteab (2005:55) adds that Isaias and his group restored to the old ELF argument that Eritrea could not support more than one liberation front.

Until 1977, the EPLF argued that secondary contradictions could not and should not be resolved by armed means, suggesting that political dialogue. This was when the EPLF was militarily weak relative to its rival.

ዝኽሪ ጅግና ሓርበኛ ስውእቲ ሓረጉ ገረዝጊሄር ሓርበኛ ስውእቲ ሓርጉ መራሓቲ ሓይሊ ኣብ ብ/69 ብ19/05/1981 ብጅግንነት ኣብ ኢዳምር ተስዊኣ ጅግና ሓረጉ ቆራጽ ናይ ውግእ መራሒትን ጅግንነት ደቀ ኣንስቲዮ ዘመስክርተ ውፍይቲ በጽይቲ ኔራ ጎቦ ዱታ ድፋኣት ጥሊያን ባርንቱ ይምሰከሩ ዘለአለማዊ ዘክሪ ንስውአትና. Hassi Mogos ጋል ገረዝግሄር ጎቦ ዱታ ጥራይ ኣይኮናን ዝምስክራ. ጎላጉል ዓረት. ታባታት ቆሓይቶ ጎቦታት እምባሶይራን ስመጃናን ውን ኣብ 75 ምስ ዕሳባት 68 ኮይና ውን ዘይሕለል ጅግንነት ዝገበረት ሓየት ተቓላሲት ከምዝነበረት ናይ ዓይኒ መሳኻኽር ኣሎና። ጋል ገረዝግሄር መንግስተ ሰማይ የዋርስኪ ሓወልትኺ ኣብ ድግሳ ክህነጽ እዩ

Tewelde Medhin G/micheal was a military commander in the Brigade 64

He was killed stright order from the leadership of EPLF to their hitsquad during the civil war of the 1980s. He was very brave and Hero. According to a reliable source when he and two others were killed by EPLF fighters in an ambush around Irafayle during the civil war of the 1980s

ሓጺር ታሪኽ ሂወት ጅግና ሱዉእ ተወልደመድህን ገብረሚካኤል

ተወልደመድሂን ገብረሚካኤል ካብ ኣብኡ ገብረሚካኤል ካብ ወላዲቱ ተኽኣ ተስፋልደት ኣብ ወረዳ መስሓል ወደከለ ኣውራጃ ኣከለጉዛይ ተወሊዱ ዓብዩ ትምህርቱ ክሳብ 8ይ ክፋሊ ኣብ ከተማ ሰንዓፈ ተማሂሩ ድሕሪኡ ፖሊስ ተኽቲቡ ድሕሪ ነዊሕ ካይጸነሐ ስራሕ ፖሊስ ገዲፋዎ ናብ ተጋድሎ ሓርነት ኤርትራ(ታ.ሓ.ኤ.) ኣብ ከባቢ 1975 ኣቢሉ ተሰሊፉ ። ድሕሪ ምስላፋ ኣብ ጀብሃ ናይ ብርጌድ 64 ሓላፊ ጸጥታ ኮይኑ ይቃለስ ድሕሪ ምጽንሑ ዉግእ ሕድሕድ ኣብ ዝጀመረሉ እዋን ኣድብዮም ዝጸንሑ ታጋደልቲ ሻዕብያ ኣብ ከባቢ 1981 ብቓጻ ቐቲለሞ ዝተሰዋኣሉ ቦታ ኢራፋይል ዝብሃል ቦታ ኣብ ኣከለጉዛይ !!!!

ጅግና ሱዉእ ተወልደመፍህን በቲ ዝነበሮ ሃገራዊ ስምዒት ናብ ጀብሃ ስለዝተሰለፈ ታሪኹ ታዓቢጡ ጥራይ ዘይ ኮነስ ናቱ ስእሊ ከይተረፈ ውን ከም ናይ ብጻይ ጎይቶኦም በርሀ ኮይና ንነዊሕ ግዜ ሰብ ተጠቒሙላን ኣብ ጉጉል(google) እታ ስእሊ ከም ናይ ብጻይ ጎይቶኦም ኮይና ተሰኒዳ ኣላ ።ስለዚ ኣብ ጀብሃ ይንበር ኣብ ህ.ግ ይሰለፍ ብዘየገድስ ክብርቲ ሂወቱ ምእንቲ ህዝቡ ዘወፈየ ተገዳላይ ከም ዝነበረ ሰብ ክበርሃሉ ይግባእ ።ነዚ ናይ ጅግና ሱዉእ ተገዳላይ ተወልደምድህን ታሪኽ ሂወት ክትድርዕዎ እትደልዩ ክትውስኩሉ ትኽእሉ ኢኹም ። ለበዋ ህ.ግንባርን ጀብሃን ከምቲ ጅግና ሙሁር ዶክቶር እዮብ ገብረሉኡል ዘበሎ እንትርፊ ናይ ስልጣን ቁርቁስ ካልእ ናይ ስነሓሳብ ፍልልይ ኣይነበረንን ፡ ብሰንኪ ዘይሓላፍነታውያንን ከዳዓት መሪሕነት ናይ ክልቲኡ ውድባት ግን ብሰንኪ ውግእ ሕድሕድ ክንደይ ንጹህ ተጋዳላይ ብላሽ ጠፊኡ ። ካብዚ ክንማሃር ይግባእ ዘባእስ ዘይብልና ብጓል መንገዲ ክንባኣስ መፍቶ ተበለጽቲ ኣይንኹን ወዳሓንኩም ። ምንጪ ጹሑፈይ ምሕረትኣብ ኣንጎሶም!መንደፈራ ዓረትንቱኩእ ተስፋይ ሓዉ ንመምህር ሞኮነን ተስፋይጽሓፊ ዓንዶም ኣንጎሶምዕለት 09/06/2020

ELF and EPLF leaders who should be blamed for the death of unknown number fighters in the civil war of 1981.[According to unofficial report the civil war of 1981 caused an estimated between 1,000 and 2,000 casualties]

ህዝባዊ ግንባር ንዝተማረኹ ጀነራላትን ኮነረላትን ደርጊ ብነጻ ዘፋነወ፡ ኣብ ውግእ ሓድሕድ ብወያነ ሓርነት ትግ ተሓጊዙ ንዝሓዞም ብሉጻት ጀጋኑ ካድራትን ሓለፍትን ተጋደልቲ ተጋድሎ ሓርነት ኤረትራ ግን 1983 ንኹሎም ከምዝረሸኖም ትፈልጡ ዶኾን ትኾኑ? ናይ ሓደ ካብዞም ግዳይ ሻዕብያ ዝኾነ ጅግና ኤረትራዊ ከቕርበልኩም እየ። ስሙ መንግስቱ ተስፋዝጊ ህያቡ ይበሃል። ኣብ ኣውራጃ ሰንሒት ኣብ በጉ ኢንኪመትሪ ትበሃል ዓዲ እዩ ተወሊዱ። ክሳብ 12 ክፍሊ ኣብ ከረን እዩ ተማሂሩ። ስድራ ስዉእ መንግስቱ ብትምህርቱ ውን ኣዝዩ ንፉዕ ብምንባሩ ተምሂሩ ዓቢ ሰብ ክኸውን ብዙሕ ተስፋ ነርዎም። ኮይኑ ግን ተቓሊሱ ሃገሩን ህዝቡን ሓራ ከውጽእ ስለዝመረጸ ገና መእሰይ እንከሎ ብ 1969 ናብ ተሓኤ ተሰለፈ። ኣብቲ ግዜ እቲ 12 ዝወድኤ ተማሃራይ ኣድላይ እዩ ዝነበረ። ጅግና መንግስቱ ክኣ ቀልጢፉ ሜዳ ትላሚዱ ኣብ ዝተፈላለየ ቦታን ጽፍሕን ተመዲቡ ሓያል ትቃላሳይ ከም ዝነበረ እዩ ዝፍለጥ። ታሪኽ እዚ ጅግና ኣንበሳ እዚ ሰፊሕ እዩ ድሒሩ ብዝርዝር ክጽፎ ተስፋ ኣለኒ። 1980 ዓምተ ምህረት ኣብ ሳሕል ኣማሕዳሪ ክፍሊ ሕክምና ብርገድ 44 ኮይኑ እንዳ ተቓለሰ ሽዑ ውግእ ሕድሕድ ብኸቢድን ሰፊሕን ተኻየደ። ሰራዊት ተሓኤ ኣብ ምሉእ ኤረትራ ውግእ ምስ ወረርቲ ህዝባዊ ግንባር ገጠመ ውያነ ክኣ ብምሉእ ሓይላ ኣብ ውግእ ኣተወት። እዝን ካልእ ውዲትን ተሓዊስዎ ተሓኤ ከምትድፋእ ኮነት። ናይዚ ውጽኢት ኣብ 1980 ኣብ ሩባ ዓንሰባ ሸርኢት ኣብ ዝበሃል ቦታ ጅግና መንግስቱ ምስ ካልኦት ብጾቱ ኣብ ኢድ ህዝባዊ ግንባር ወደቑ። ብፍላይ ብጻዩን ኣዕርኩን ካብ ከረን ጀሚሮም ዝፋለጡ ጅግና ስዉእ ዮሱፍ ኢብራሂም ሓላፊ ኣብ ሕክምና ክኢላ ናይ Labratoury ብርገድ 97 ብሓደ ተታሕዙ።ካልኦት ቁሩባት ኣስማቶም ዝረኸብኰዎም እዞም ዝስዕቡ ክጠቅስ ተኽለ ኣብርሃ ካድር ቀዳመይቲ ቦጦሎኒ ብርገድ 97 ግርማጺዮን ኣብርሃ ሓኪም ቦጦሎኒ ያፈት ዓበ ካድር ሓይሊ ወዲ ተላ ሓኪም ቦጦሎኒ ክልኦት ብዙሓት ካብ ኩሉ ዝኣከብዎም ሓለፍቲ ኣብ 1983 ዓምተ ምህረት ኣኪቦም ክምዝረሽንዎ ሽዑ ኢና ፈሊጥና። ካብ ምራሒ መርዕ( ናይ 15 ተጋደልቲ ዝመርሕ) ንላዕሊ ዋላሓደ ኣይተመለሰን። ኣስትውዕሉ ንሽሓት ሓለፍቲ ደርጊ ጀነራላት ከይትረፈ ግን ብነጻ ሰዲድዎም ንዞም ጀጋኑ ኤረትርዋያን ግን ኣጥፊኦሞም። ሓደ ብስራት ግን ኣለኒ ክልቲኦም ስዉእ መንግስቱ ተስፋዝግን ስዉእ የሱፍ ኢብራሂምን ሓሓደ ውዲ ሓድጊ ገዲፎም እዮም ተስዊኦም። ወዲ ስውእ መንግስቱ ተሓጽዩ ክምዘሎ ፈሊጠ ኣለኹ ኣብ መርዕኡ የውዕለና። ትኩእ ተስፋይ ካናዳ

In 1981 Abdella Idris was defeated by his long rival Issayas and lost power inside Eritrea. In 1982 Abdella Idris took military action against his opponents, the leaders of the ELF-RC, and Melake Tekele was killed by Abdella Idris.

Melake Tekele was not innocent of crime as he was the head of the ELF security department which was responsible for the kidnapping, disappearance and killing of innocent civilians and fighters from 1975-1980.

Since then both the ELF and ELF.RC leadershave become the main rival leaders within the opposition which caused a rift between the ELF RC and ENA in 2002. Concerning this Sadia Ali wrote how on Earth they (ELF.RC) speak about their opposition to Dictatorial regime in Eritrea when they walk out from the ENA5th regular session. Read more .

The spilt of EDA in 2007 was also happened because of the rival leaders of the ELF.RC and ELF. At the EDA Conference which was held in Addis Abeba, 2008 Hussen Kelifay also said that his organization was not ready to accept the candidature of ELF-RC for the Executive Office.

•In 1986 there was a military clash between the ELF-PLF-UO and the ELF-RC which caused the deaths of an unknown number of fighters from both sides • In 1986 the ELF-RC was also attacked by the EPLF • In 1988 the EPLF attacked the ELF-PLF UO and unknown number of fighters of ELF-PLF UO were killed includes its military commander Tesfay Mehere

The opposition leaders' unwillingness to consolidate the Eritrean people's struggle against this autocratic government has a history going back to the 1970s when they set back the victory of the liberation struggle in 1978 just 30 years ago. Regarding this Wolde Giorgis(1989: 93) wrote that the ELF and EPLF had the power to take Asmara, but at the last minute their mutual hatred proved stronger than their hatred of the Ethiopian army. He adds that, they lost their opportunity because they could not come to an agreement. If there were genuine leadership inside the opposition groups in 2001, this autocratic regime would not have remained in power until now. However, the opposition groups leaders have contributed greatly to prolong this dictatorship.

To conclude it is not the intention of this paper to detail the problems of the opposition leaders, but this is just to highlight that the mistakes of the former revolutionary leaders and their collaborators are being repeated by the people who lead the opposition groups.

Purge and Liquidation in the EPLF 1973-1980