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Eritrean Defence Forces
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Eritrean Defence Forces
The Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) (Tigrinya: ሓይልታት ምክልኻል ኤርትራ[pronunciation?]) are the combined military forces of Eritrea composed of three branches: Eritrean Army, Eritrean Air Force and Eritrean Navy. The Army is by far the largest, followed by the Air Force and Navy. The Commander-in-Chief of the EDF is the President of Eritrea. Their military role stems from Eritrea's strategic geographical location, located on the Red Sea with a foothold on the Bab-el-Mandeb strait.
Military history in Eritrea stretches back for thousands of years; from ancient times to present day, the society of the Eritreans have dealt with both war and peace. During the kingdom of Medri Bahri, the military fought numerous battles against the invading forces of the Abyssinians to the south and the Ottoman Turks at the Red Sea.
During the 16th century the port of Massawa was used by the Ottomans to protect sea lanes from disruption, while more recently it was used by the Italians during their colonial occupation. The kingdom of Medri Bahri was dissolved and the Colony of Eritrea was founded by the Italians in 1890, shortly after the opening of the Suez Canal. When Italian troops occupied Ethiopia in 1936, Eritrean native soldiers (known as Askaris) supported the invading force. However, this was reversed by British and Ethiopian troops in 1941. The Eritrean infantry battalions and cavalry squadrons of the "Regio Corpo Truppe Coloniali" (Royal Colonial Corps) saw extensive service in the various Italian colonial territories between 1888 and 1942.
During the war for Eritrea's independence rebel movements (the ELF and the EPLF) used volunteers. In the final years of the struggle for independence, the EPLF ranks grew to 110,000 volunteers (some 3% of the total population).[citation needed]
During the first two decades of independence, the EDF formally had the power to detain and arrest civilians, and used this power to help police detain and arrest civilians, which systematically happened for arbitrary reasons. Together with police, EPLF members and government officials, the EDF carried out widespread torture of Eritreans.
Military-run prisons included the underground Track B (or Tract B) in the west of Asmara, holding 2000 detainees; Adi Abeto near Asmara; Wi'a, 32 km south of Massawa, for holding military prisoners (escaped conscripts and draft evaders) and members of unauthorised religions; Mitire, in north-eastern Eritrea for religious prisoners; Haddis Ma'askar, mostly underground, near the Sawa military base; Ala Bazit in a desert next to the Ala mountains; and Mai Dima near Berakit Mountain for Kunama detainees.
In the Tigray War, the EDF was attributed the main responsibility for the extrajudicial killing of hundreds of civilians in the Aksum massacre, that mainly took place on 28–29 November 2020 in Aksum, according to investigations by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. As of 26 February 2021[update], just after the publication of the Amnesty International report, Al Jazeera English had not received responses from Eritrean officials, but commented that the Eritrean Minister of Information had stated in January 2021 that "the rabid defamation campaign against Eritrea [was] on the rise again".
On 12 November 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control added the EDF to its to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list for being "a government entity that has engaged in, or whose members have engaged in, activities that have contributed to the crisis in northern Ethiopia or have obstructed a ceasefire or peace process to resolve such crisis".
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Eritrean Defence Forces
The Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) (Tigrinya: ሓይልታት ምክልኻል ኤርትራ[pronunciation?]) are the combined military forces of Eritrea composed of three branches: Eritrean Army, Eritrean Air Force and Eritrean Navy. The Army is by far the largest, followed by the Air Force and Navy. The Commander-in-Chief of the EDF is the President of Eritrea. Their military role stems from Eritrea's strategic geographical location, located on the Red Sea with a foothold on the Bab-el-Mandeb strait.
Military history in Eritrea stretches back for thousands of years; from ancient times to present day, the society of the Eritreans have dealt with both war and peace. During the kingdom of Medri Bahri, the military fought numerous battles against the invading forces of the Abyssinians to the south and the Ottoman Turks at the Red Sea.
During the 16th century the port of Massawa was used by the Ottomans to protect sea lanes from disruption, while more recently it was used by the Italians during their colonial occupation. The kingdom of Medri Bahri was dissolved and the Colony of Eritrea was founded by the Italians in 1890, shortly after the opening of the Suez Canal. When Italian troops occupied Ethiopia in 1936, Eritrean native soldiers (known as Askaris) supported the invading force. However, this was reversed by British and Ethiopian troops in 1941. The Eritrean infantry battalions and cavalry squadrons of the "Regio Corpo Truppe Coloniali" (Royal Colonial Corps) saw extensive service in the various Italian colonial territories between 1888 and 1942.
During the war for Eritrea's independence rebel movements (the ELF and the EPLF) used volunteers. In the final years of the struggle for independence, the EPLF ranks grew to 110,000 volunteers (some 3% of the total population).[citation needed]
During the first two decades of independence, the EDF formally had the power to detain and arrest civilians, and used this power to help police detain and arrest civilians, which systematically happened for arbitrary reasons. Together with police, EPLF members and government officials, the EDF carried out widespread torture of Eritreans.
Military-run prisons included the underground Track B (or Tract B) in the west of Asmara, holding 2000 detainees; Adi Abeto near Asmara; Wi'a, 32 km south of Massawa, for holding military prisoners (escaped conscripts and draft evaders) and members of unauthorised religions; Mitire, in north-eastern Eritrea for religious prisoners; Haddis Ma'askar, mostly underground, near the Sawa military base; Ala Bazit in a desert next to the Ala mountains; and Mai Dima near Berakit Mountain for Kunama detainees.
In the Tigray War, the EDF was attributed the main responsibility for the extrajudicial killing of hundreds of civilians in the Aksum massacre, that mainly took place on 28–29 November 2020 in Aksum, according to investigations by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. As of 26 February 2021[update], just after the publication of the Amnesty International report, Al Jazeera English had not received responses from Eritrean officials, but commented that the Eritrean Minister of Information had stated in January 2021 that "the rabid defamation campaign against Eritrea [was] on the rise again".
On 12 November 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control added the EDF to its to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list for being "a government entity that has engaged in, or whose members have engaged in, activities that have contributed to the crisis in northern Ethiopia or have obstructed a ceasefire or peace process to resolve such crisis".