Operation Red Star

Operation Red Star (Amharic: ኦፕሬሽን ቀይ ኮከብ, romanized: opirēshini k’eyi kokebi), officially known as the Red Star Multifaceted Revolutionary Campaign (Amharic: የቀይ ኮከብ ሁለገብ አብዮታዊ ዘመቻ, lit. 'yek’eyi kokebi hulegebi ābiyotawī zemecha') was a 1982 Ethiopian army operation during the Ethiopian Civil War aimed at isolating the eliminating opposition forces such as the EPRP and the EPLF from Eritrea. From February to June of 1982, "Operation Red Star," it saw the deployment of more than 100,000 troops. Despite the operation, the government made no significant gains in Eritrea.[3]

Red Star Campaign
Part of the Ethiopian Civil War and Eritrean War of Independence
Date16 February – June 1982[1]
Location
Eritrea, Socialist Ethiopia
Result Ethiopian failure
Belligerents
Ethiopia
Support:
 Soviet Union		 EPLF
TPLF
Commanders and leaders
Mengistu Haile Mariam Isaias Afwerki
Strength
84,537 regular troops[2] 22,184 Eritrean guerrillas (including 6,000 Tigrayans)

Timeline

The campaign was announced by the government on 25 January 1981 and was official launched on 16 February. By March, thousands of Ethiopian troops were forced to retreat along the northeastern sea coast to the Sudanese border. In addition, an Ethiopian division was reportedly trapped 15 miles inside Sudan.[4]

Societal aspect of Red Star

Outside of its operational purpose, it was also designed to rally provincial society economically, politically and culturally. The motto became "Military victory first and then civic action" and even Colonel Mengistu moved the entire Derg to Asmara, the Eritrean capital, to be able to showcase the development campaign for the area.[5] The government cared to rally Eritrean society around the military and the ruling junta.[6]

As a result of poor performance in Red Star, the following August saw a new operation, titled "Red Star II", keep a much lower profile than the original.[7]

See also

References
  1. "Opinion | ETHIOPIAN CONFLICTS: ALL IS NOT QUIET IN THE 'NORTHERN COMMAND'". July 6, 1983 – via NYTimes.com.
  2. Waal, Alex de (August 16, 2009). "Recalling Ethiopia's Wars: The Rage of Numbers".
  3. Ellison, Katherine (1984-03-04). "Eritrean Offensive Ends Stalemate in 22-Year War". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-03-15.
  4. Ufheil-Somers, Amanda (1982-06-15). "Dispatches: The War in Eritrea". MERIP. Retrieved 2023-03-15.
  5. "'Operation Red Star': Soviet Union, Libya back Ethiopia in Eritrean war - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved 2023-03-15.
  6. Tareke, Gebru (2002). "From Lash to Red Star: The Pitfalls of Counter-Insurgency in Ethiopia, 1980-82". The Journal of Modern African Studies. 40 (3): 465–498. ISSN 0022-278X.
  7. "Quietly, Ethiopians mount drive to oust Eritrean secessionists". Christian Science Monitor. ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved 2023-03-15.
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