First Battle of Massawa

The First Battle of Massawa took place from 1977 to 1978 in and around the coastal city of Massawa in Eritrea. The port was besieged by the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) against the forces of Ethiopia, and was one of two battles in and around the city.

First Battle of Massawa
Part of the Eritrean War of Independence
Date1977–1978
Location
Massawa, Eritrea
Result Ethiopian victory
Belligerents
EPLF  Ethiopia
 Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Mesfin Hagos Merid Negussie
Strength
3,000 men Ethiopian forces:
6,000 soldiers
Unknown amount of Airplanes
Unknown amount of ships[1]
Soviet forces:
1 battleship
Casualties and losses
At least 2,000 dead
400 wounded[1]		 Minimal

The battle

By 1977, EPLF fighters had claimed all of Massawa to save the port itself.[2] This included the main road used by the garrison for the transport of supplies from Asmara. Essentially the garrison was cut off by land and under siege.

On 23 December 1977, the EPLF began a strike through an open field towards the salt flats and port. Soviet warships began to shell EPLF-held portions of the town to prevent its occupation by the EPLF, especially the downtown areas.[2][3] The Ethiopian victory was attributed to the intervention of the Soviet Union on behalf of Ethiopia,[4] and the work of the Ethiopian airforce and naval artillery.[1] This defeat led to a withdrawal, dubbed the strategic withdrawal, into Sahel, the strategic, EPLF-held mountaintops around the town of Nakfa. This battle was also the beginning of direct Soviet involvement in the Eritrean War of Independence, which would continue in other battles.

References
  1. Dan Connell (15 July 2019). Historical Dictionary of Eritrea. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 358–. ISBN 978-1-5381-2066-8.
  2. Cooper, Tom (2003-09-02). "Ethiopia and Eritrea, 1950-1991". Archived from the original on 2006-12-06. Retrieved 2006-12-27.
  3. "Another Soviet Push for Power". Time. 1978-02-06. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved 2006-12-27.
  4. Payton, Gary. "The Soviet-Ethiopian Liaison". Air University Review. XXX (1). Archived from the original on 2007-11-23. Retrieved 2006-12-27.

See also

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