Remembering on Marty’s Day the forgotten Eritrean Heroes

Saed Hussien Mohammed and his comrades

Ten ELF Fighters Martyred in Dankalia in 1978


Compiled and researched by Resoum Kidane 13/06/2020

 

Brief information on ten ELF fighters executed in Dankalia by the ELF in 1978 [full story

Referring the ELF liquidation policy in those fighters who criticize the leadership of the ELF were eliminated under different cover up by the ELF leaders.   Nabira in his paper Where are the Dots to be Connected Here? Point out the declaration of war on the alleged Yemanwi kinfi (right wing) in 1978 in Dankalia, in which many unsung patriots such as Omer Suba were killed and liquidated by special ELF units.

The liquidation of the 10 veterans ELF fighters were confirmed by Ahemed Naser who was the chairman of the ELF at that time in the following

We foiled this reactionary project by resolutely liquidating these elements on May 22, 1978. The Eritrean Liberation Army units assigned this duty executed it perfectly.” One of those martyrs was Hussen the founder of the ELF in Cairo with Taha. source ERITREA IN THE WORLD AND ARABIC PRESS ELF INFORMATION BULLETIN Vol. 3 no. 1 June-August 1978 " Eritrean Revolution" P. 40-41 source Response from ELF Leadership-Ahmed Nasser

However, according to Gaim (2008: 307) the Minifere rebels were not driven by religious fanaticism but rather by ethnic sectarianism. When the leader of the rebellion, Mahomud Hussein, was freed from prison in 1975 and joined the leadership of the ELF, he soon became disillusioned by the manner in which the ELF was led. He was particularly concerned about relegation to the background of the Saho-speaking fighters of the ELF.

In his view, although the Saho-speaking fighters represented a considerable proportion of the fighting force and were among the foundating members of the Front, they were allegedly used as cannon fodder. Inorder to dramatize the plight of the Saho fighters the leaders of the group referred to them as debaba al beshirriya (human tanks).

The group believed that Barentu was liberated thanks to the heavy sacrifice made by the Saho fighters. The Saho and the other fighters from the rest of Eritrea were allegedly told by the people from the Western lowland. " gedem adna t'harret, adkum hariru" (our areas now liberated, liberate your own areas).

This is supposed to have infuriated Mahmoud Hussein and a few other Minifere fighters and consequently they decided to "initiate a secreate organization to take over power and rescue the ELF from the domination of the Beni Amer"

According to his version, the ELF leadership deliberately labeled the group as Islamic fundamentalist inorder to justify its destruction.
All those killed were from the Saho-speaking Minifere and the chairman of the ELF, Ahmed Nasser, was a Saho-speaking Asaorta, a group of elders and community leaders representing the Minifere issued a scathing condemnation of the Revolutionary Council. Afinger was pointed at the Asaorta, particularly chairman Ahmed Nasser.

Although Eritrean civilian elders had often distanced themselves from the misdeeds of the leaderships of the liberation fronts, this was the first time elders claiming to represent a whole tribe condemned the ELF's leadership for a crime committed against a particular social group-the Minifer. Source Gaim 2008 :308} readmore on the crime comitted and collaborated by the ELF leaders http://www.ehrea.org/elfpurge.php 

Comment posted by Ibrahim Hin 22 May at 01:02 · Public
እቲኦም 10 ጀጋኑ ዝተሰዉኡላ ዘይትርሳዕ መራር ዕለት
ዕለት 22/5/1978 ብመርሕነት ጀብሃ ኣብ ልዕሊ'ቶም ቡሉጻት መራሕቲን ተቃለስትን ኣቦታትና ዘይርሳዕ ናይ ምርሻን ገበን ዝተፈጸመላ ዘይትርሳዕ ዕለት ኢያ፥፥
ኣብ 1975 ጅግና ስውእ ሲዒድ ሑሴን ካብ እስሪ-ቤት ስርዓት ሃይለስላሴ ድሕሪ 12 ዓመታት ብ ስሪሒት ሰንበል ኣብ ዝፍለጥ ኡሱራት ናይ ምውጻእ ዝተገብረ ናይ ጀብሃ ስሪሒት ኣብ ዝወጸሉ ግዜ ኣብ ሜዳ ብዙሕ ምቅይያራት እዩ ጸኒሑዎ ፥ አቲኣ ምስ ብጾቱ ኣብ ፈለማ ሱሳታት ዝተኸላ ሃገራዊት ውድብ ጀብሃ ዘይኮነት እቲኣ ብ ስነ-ሓሳብ ማርክስ ዝሰኸረት ሓድሽ ስነ-ሓሳብን ምዕራባዊ ባህልን ዝተኸደነት ብ ክፍልታትን ሰልፍታትን ዝተመቓቀለት ብ ሰልፊ-ዕዮ ዝተዓብለለት ናይ ሓሳብ ፍልልይ ዘይጻወሩ መራሕቲ ዝዓሰሉዋ ጀብሃ እያ ጸንሓቶ ፥
እቲኦም ቀደም ዝፈልጦም ዘነበረ ናይ 60ታት ብጾቱ ውን ገሊኦም ተሰዊኦም ገሊኦም ውን ነቲ ሰልፊ ተቃዊሞም ተባሂሎም ኣብ እስሪ ቤት ሰልፊ- ዕዮ ብቅያዳ-ኣልዓማ ዝተዳጎኑ ነይሮም ፥ እዚ ኣካይዳ ጀብሃ ደስ ዘይበሎም ስዒድን ብጾቱን ኣብ ውሽጢ'ቲ ውድብ ጎስጋስ ብ ምግባር ናብ ናይ ቀደም ሃገራዊ መስመራ ክትምለስ ብዙሕ እዮም ጽዕሮም፣ ግን ኣብ ዘይሰምዓካ ደብሪ ኣይትማህለል ከምዚተባህለ እቲኣ ክትስማዕ እምበር ክትሰምዕ እዝኒ ዘይተዓደለት ሰልፊ-ዕዮ ነቲኦም ኣካይዳኣ ክቃወሙ ንዝጀመሩ ስዒድን ብጾቱን ክትሃድን እያ ተበግሳ ፤ ድሕሪ ነዊሕ ጎስጋስ ኣብ ውሽጢቲ ውድብ ኮይኖም ንኣካይዳ ሰልፊ-ዕዮ ምቅዋም ወይ ለውጢ ምምጻእ ክሰርሕ ከምዘይክእል ዚተገንዘቡ ስዒድን ብጾቱን ካብ ጀብሃ ተፈልዮም ቦታ ብምቅያር ን ጀብሃ ናብ ሃገራዊ መስመራ ክመልሱዋ እዮም መሪጾም ፥ ከም ውጺእቱ ድማ ናብ የመን ኣምሪሖም ፥ ካብ የመን ንደንካልያ ጉዕዞኦም ብምጅማር ሓደ ንኣምኖ እና ዚበሉዎ ግለ-ስብ ኣብ ደንካልያ ክቅበሎም ምስቲ ሰብ ተማኸሩ ፣
ስዒድን ብጾቱን ናብቲ ቦታ ከይበጸሑ እቲኣ በቲ ናይ " ናይ መአረምታ ምንቅስቃስ" ድቃስ ስእና ዝነበረት ሰልፊ-ዕዮ ነቲ ግለ-ሰብ ብ ገንዘብን ናይ ሓላፍነት መብጻዓ ዓይኑ ብምድፋን ነቲኦም ብጻይና እሎም ዝኣመኑዎ ብጾቱ ክምዝጠልሞም ገበሩዎ፥ ናብቲ ቦታ ምስ መጹ ከኣ እቲ ዝኣመኑዎ ብጻይና እሎም ልቦም ዝሃቡዎ ሰብ ብግዝያዊ ረብሓ ሰሲዑ ጸላኢ ተቀይሩ ኢዩ ጸኒሑዎም፥ ኣብቲ ዚቀረበሎም መግቢ ዘደቅስ መድሃኒት ብምግባር ጥልመቱ ጀመረ፥ ስዒድን ብጾቱን በቲ ዝተዋህቦም መድሃኒት ሃለዋቶም ምስ ኣጥፈኡ ኣብቲ ደቂሶምሉ ዘለዉ ቦታ ወጋሕታ ብ ዕለት 22/5/1978 ኣብ ደንካልያ ኣብ ዓበ ዝባሃል ቦታ ኣብ ልዕሊኦም ኣረመናዊ ናይ ምርሻን ጃምላዊ ቕትለት ፈጺሞም፥፥
እወ ነቲኦም ጀጋኑ ፊት-ንፊት ኣብ ሜዳ ክገጥሙዎም ከምዘይክእሉ ኣጸቢቆም ይፈልጡ ስለዚነበሩ ነዚ ናይ ድኹማት መንገዲ መሪጾም ፥ እቲኣ ዕለት እቲኣ ግን ሰልፊ- ዕዮ ህላወኦም ኣብ ሜዳ ብኢዶም ፈሪሞም ዘብቀዑላ ዕለት እያ ነይራ ፥ እቲኣ ኣብ ከበሳን መታሕትን ኣብቲ ግዜቲ ስም ዝነበራ ጀብሃ ብ ህዝቢ "ፎ" ዝተባሃለትላ ዕለት ፥ እቲኦም ዝተቀትሉ ጀጋኑ ስዉኣት ብሙሉኦም ደቂ ሳሆ ብምንባሮም ብፍላይ ከኣ ካብ ሕብረተ-ሰብ ሳሆ ንጀብሃ ዓቢ ተነጽሎ እያ ገጢሙዋ ብዙሕ ኣይጸንሐትን ከኣ ጠቅሊላ ሜዳ ብምግዳፍ ተበታትና ናብ ሱዳን ኣትያ፥፥
ዝርዚር ኣስማት ጀጋኑ ስዉኣት ደንካልያ
1-ጅግና ስዉእ ሲዒድ ሑሴን
2-ጅግና ስዉእ ዑመር መሓመድ ዑመር
3-ጅግና ስውእ መሓመድያሲን ሓጂ ሳልሕ
4-ጅግና ስዉእ ዑመር መሓመድ ሱባ
5-ጅግና ስዉእ ኣደም ኢብራሂም ሓጂ
6-ጅግና ስዉእ መ/ድ ኢብራሂም መሓመድ ማሕደር
7-ጅግና ስዉእ ኣሕመድ ኢብራሂም መሓመድ
8-ጅግና ስዉእ ኣደም ኢብራሂም ሓጂ
9-ጅግና ስዉእ መሓመድ ማንሱር
10- ጅግና ስዉእ መሓመድ ሸዳሊ እስማዒል
ረቢል ዓላሚን ኣብ ጀነቱ ይቀበሎም፥ ንሕና ከኣ መብጸዓኦም ብምሕዳስ ኣብ ኣሰሮም ኣለና ፥፥
ዓወት ንዉጹዓት !!!

There are many poems about the heroism of the group and about the betray of the ELF leadership. The Saho language is rich in poetry. One of the poems on the group which was composed by the famous Saho poet, the late Haji Saleh Omer Indigo who lived in Saudi Arabia, read as follows
Garbad ani alaitme You matured in your mothers' wombs
Gombod ani ifarteme You joined the struggle when you were toddlers
Sitinat Asmara saiteme You moved to Asmara in the sixties
Fishalle Meduwed beiteme You abducted handcuffing officials
Mekinon nini abubutieme You chose to serve your country instead of your father
Mekinon nini inenuteme You chose to serve your country instead of your mothers
Dinti kenina aka bahteme They made you swallow sleeping pills
Tenek lo temen abtene You were ten in number
Ten sajaak shih abtene But they received you as a thousand
Sisayo kini gobon tekeme Your death in their death
Sin iro kini wiiteme Your orphaned children were also their children
Tenseral Jebha hajemjeme Yourof death means the end the ELF
According to the elders concerned, the decision to eliminate the group was moivated by sectarianism. Although this claim is difficult to substantiate, the incident clearly indicated that the ELF leadership was still intolerant and had not yet embraced nonviolent means of conflict resolution.The incident was mentioned by a number of interviwees to show that appearance notwithstanding, the ELF had not changed substantially from the time the breakaway groups abandoned it to create the EPLF [Source Critical refelections:2008 p308]
Excerpt from the liquidation of the 10 veterans ELF fighters
 


Saed Hussien Mohammed was born in 1935 in the village of Se-ito-lede-gi, between Qohaito and Nebegede. He was recruited to ELF ant the 60s end. His education was at Cairo University and became member of the front in Cairo as a student, being one of the first ones with Idris Awate.

Being a mindful and brave man, he recruited many fighters to join the front. To make the Eritrean cause publicized in the world, he became one of the first fedayeens while fighters struggled in the front.

He was successful in many deeds and once while trying to hijack an airplane in Asmera, with his comrade Mohammed Birhan they were discovered and caught. High officials like Abey Abebe asked him to work with them and he would be given high position but he refused. He was then sentenced for fifteen years imprisonment and taken to Alem Bekagn prison and was there for 12 years. Then in 1975 he was transferred to Eritrea. That year the ELF freed prisoners in Asmera and Adi Quala.But he was not amongst the freed because he was hospitalized
  Since he was an important fighter to free, the fighters advanced to the hospital before the Ethiopians and with tactics he was freed and joined the other freed mates. He had contributed to the front and at last was martyred while trying to proceed with his belief.  
Saed Hussien Mohammed.  
   
     
       
  Omer Mohammed Suba
He was born in 1948 in Sanako. His education level was elementary school. He joined the front in 1962. Because of his tender age, he was not allowed to fight but worked in towns like spreading pamphlets and errands of the front. The Ethiopians soon discovered him and in 1964 he entered Kessela.

Soon he and other comrades requested to join the front and were allowed to do so. He later was placed under the division of Omer Azaz and in 1965 transferred to another place. He was in the mortar section and became a haili leader.

  
 
Omer Mohammed Suba
 
 

The brave Omer Suba participated in many battles and the fiercest battle he was in was Derabush front. There the renowned Ethiopian spy called Girmai was killed there. Girmai was head of the militia. He was known to have mishandled, suppressed, tortured and killed Eritreans. Girmai had earlier participated in a battle where he killed the brave Omer Yahya. Because Omer Yahya was huge in posture, Girmai claimed he was a fighter leader and beheading him, he took the head to the Ethiopians.

Omer Suba got the opportunity to revenge for Omer Yahya. He killed Girmai and beheaded him taking the head back to the front. This was in 31 October 1965. And in 1966 he was in another battle of Kara-kom, and in 21.11.1966 he was in a battle of Adi Shiekh where Ethiopian officers were killed in. In mid 70s, he was transferred to Qaid-al-katiba administration, went to Iraq, and returned to the field after taking a military course. Perhaps it was to enable him to become a battalion leader. He found the field corrupted which dismayed him. He then started to communicate with dissenters like him.
In 1962 (or 72?) he went to Om Hager and then met with Said Hussien
Omer Mohammed Omer.
It does not state when or where he was born. As a student he joined the students group and did activities in towns. He went to Bahr Dar to the Technical school and continued with his activities in Eritrea.

He was discovered by the Ethiopian security and returned to Eritrea and joined the front. He participated in many battles as well as fedayeen activities in towns and succeeded mostly. His last deed was the assassination of General Teshome in Asmera when he came out of work at 6 pm. near a hospital. Because the general’s bodyguards had new and automatic weapons, Omer Mohammed was wounded and his comrade could not save him. He was caught by the horrible security.
He was beaten and tortured and yet he gave out nothing and was sentenced to hang. He, Ahmed Saleh Mohammed Omer and Abdul Kadir Burhan were to be hanged that Sunday when ELF freed all prisoners on the eve, the Saturday.

 
 
 
Omer M.Omer
   
 
   
 

Ahmed Ibrahim Mohammed


He was born in 1950 in Asala Nebegedi. He studied to high school and in 1964 became involved with the revolution. Ahmed Ibrahim grew up with his parents in Mendefera until he finished high school in 1964. He was a good football player as a goalkeeper and was well known in Mendefera.

He started spreading pamphlets and collected contributions from the people but he was soon discovered by the Ethiopian government and with his mate called Burhan, was caught. They were imprisoned as anti nationalists in a juvenile section for 4 months but were not harshly treated because of their young age.

In November (what year? 64) he went to Sudan and then joined the front. First he was a foot soldier and then in the security branch. In 1969 became head of security force. In 1971 his boss selected him to study in Iraq, an officers’ course.

In 1978 he returned to the front and saw what others had already observed the front leadership being corrupted.

He had three children but he did not raise them. His daughter living in Stockholm was young when he died. Because he was the only child, his parents married him off at young age. (I met his mother in Adi Keyeh in 1994, Abdu). His children grew up in Kessela,


 
 
Mohammed Yassin Haji Saleh

He was born in 1944 in Asmera, with high school education. He joined the front in 1964. His father was a guard at the Massawa airport. He started school in 1951 and lived in Twalet area of Massawa until he finished high school there.

He took a 6 months course of ‘financa’ in 1960 and started working as an fnansa soldier. He was posted in a village called Adebra near the Sudanese border for 6 months. He was then transferred to Tesenei and then to Tokombia.

In 1964 with 4 others they took their weapons 10 ‘Abu Ashera’ with 100-200 bullets and went to the field. They participated in many battles and were put in the communications section of the front.

He had observed the bad leadership of the front and started to communicate with the dissidents and was thus killed with them at last.

 
 
 
Mohammed Suliman Ibrahim Mahder.

He was born in the 1950s in Soira village. He went in elementary school and in 1974 joined the front in 24.4.1974. He fought whole-heartedly, participated in different battles, and was known for his bravery.

He observed the corruption of the leadership and how it retarded the pace and the tribalist, religion and clan divisions. He became one of the dissidents and at last was met with their fate of being executed.

 
       


Abdu Idris Abdu

He was born in 1949 and grew up in Geredef – Nebegedi After elementary school and read the Koran, joined the front in 1967. The Ethiopian soldiers were massacring and harassing his birth area, which led him to fight for his people’s liberation. In 1970 he was wounded in a battle

He too found the front disagreeable and with his confidents tried to reform it.

 
 


 

 

 

 



Mohammed Mansur.

He was born in 1952 in GindAe town. With high school education joined the front in the 70s and was in the ranks.

As the others, he too observed the corruption of the leadership of the revolution.

He became one of the reforming group to better the front found out there were dissidents. He joined them and was also one of the victims of the executions.

 

 
   

Mohammed Shedeli Ismail

He was born in 1956 in Adi Keyeh. He finished high school and joined the front in 1971. He contributed to the struggle, worked as fedayeen in Adi Keyeh and surroundings, and was a brave fighter.

In 1973 he was captured by the enemy and taken to Asmera. There the Israeli trained security soldiers tortured him and he suffered a lot but leaked out nothing. He stayed in prison until 1975 until he was freed with other prisoners from Asmera.

Seeing the corrupted form of leadership, he was one of those wishing to reform the leadership and joined the dissident group. They were cut short from fulfilling their aim. They were sedated with poison and killed

  
   
 
 
 






Adem Ibrahim Al Haj


He was born in 1949 in the village of Ab-a, Qohaito. After elementary school he joined the front in 1968. His mother and the father of nr.9 Abdu Idris are siblings. They grew up together in their farmlands.

He was wounded in a battle and moving away for medication to Aden, the two cousins were separated. Healing, he returned to his place,

He saw the destruction of the front and like his mates tried to reform it.

    
 
  COMMENTS OF DIFFERENT PERSONS

It states in the book that it was written 2 years after the liberation of Eritrea. The 10 were already martyred for 14 years. Not known where it was printed. It states that it is free to duplicate and distribute. Got from the archives of the Eritrean revolution. In 1978 a high official from the front came to Jedda and held a meeting to the people. The representative said in the seminar that they had destroyed a dangerous group, and with fek-era (boasting). It was later all in the leadership started denying he or the other was not present in the case. That was when they saw they had no support from the people. They did not name the persons or details but that the dangerous force was destroyed.

Their supporters in Sudan, Yemen, Saudia and those undiscovered inside the field were told whom the persons were.

Mohammed Mansur’s brother was a good singer with the song “Simbil – Simbil”, Ahmed Mansur, from Ginda.

Omer Suba’s wife and daughter were living in Kessela. She was told there.

These brave fighters who sacrificed their lives for the liberation of their people and being one of the first fighters should have been known what their aim or wish was. Instead they were killed in unjust way and silenced forever. They have the right to be remembered for the sacrifice they did.

These and many others who were bravely fighting should be remembered in history. We all learn from history of our past. A front tells of the hardships, actions, events, experiences etc and these and others should be part of the history.

The secret was buried with them. And ELF did not proceed long after them. Their supporters were dispersed.

These same leadership are now in relationship with Ethiopia, just as they did with the Derg.

(These men knew what the stakes were that they could lose their lives and yet they were determined to advance with their plan. They could have lived abroad and built good lives for themselves.

Many brave fighters have sacrificed their lives for the sake of their beloved people and save their comrades. Stories have been told verbally and not much in writing. There were also stories of fighters being killed by their own front and since then considered as traitors or sectarians.

The story of these men was part of the struggle history and it can be an example of one part of our history. )
* * *

Mohammed Omer was never afraid. He was wounded while shooting at a general in middle of Asmera.

The leadership of still now are again splitting the oppositions.

The Jebha leaders were wooing Sabbe so as to finish EPLF. They were black naming Sabbe and when Sabbe split with EPLF, Jebha gave him place inside Jebha administrated areas to hit EPLF. This was the main reason for the Falul movement.
ELF 1978
 
ehrea
 

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