The Second Battle of Massawa (also known as Operation Fenkil and as the Fenkil offensive) took place in 1990 in and around the coastal city of

Massawa Massawa ( ; ti, ምጽዋዕ, məṣṣəwaʿ; gez, ምጽዋ; ar, مصوع; it, Massaua; pt, Maçuá) is a port city in the Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, located on the Red Sea at the northern end of the Gulf of Zula beside the Dahlak ...

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

. The offensive was conducted by both land and sea units of the

Eritrean People's Liberation Front The Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF), colloquially known as Shabia, was an armed Marxist–Leninist organization that fought for the independence of Eritrea from Ethiopia. It emerged in 1970 as a far-left to left-wing nationalist group ...

(EPLF) against the

Ethiopian Army The Ethiopian Ground Forces () is the land service branch of the Ethiopian National Defense Force. It is senior of the two uniformed military branches. It engages in land warfare and combined arms operations, including armored and mechanized o ...

Battle

Beginning on February 8, 1990 the EPLF forces began the offensive by cutting off the critical supply route from the

Asmara Asmara ( ), or Asmera, is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region. It sits at an elevation of , making it the sixth highest capital in the world by altitude and the second highest capital in Africa. The ...

garrison. The surprise attack stunned the Ethiopian military and by the following afternoon the EPLF forces were in the suburbs of Massawa. On the third day of the offensive, February 11, 1990, the Eritrean forces captured the Ethiopian naval base near the town. The only remaining portion of the city to rid of Ethiopian troops were the islands. To achieve this the Eritrean forces used their nascent naval forces (mostly small gunboats) to attack from by sea during an artillery barrage. Using this artillery fire the Eritrean armor moved onto the causeways that connected the islands with the mainland. The first of these

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

s were destroyed by the Ethiopian garrison, however, they were eventually overcome by the EPLF. After this defeat the remainder of the Ethiopian forces retreated to

Ghinda Ghinda ( ti, ጊንዳዕ) is a town in the Northern Red Sea Region, Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea. It is situated in the Ghinda Subregion, and lies between Asmara and Massawa. Overview Ghinda is a major fruit and vegetable growing area and ...

. This battle was what is known as a major occurrence in Ethiopia. Even after the loss of Massawa, the Ethiopians continued their aerial bombardment of the city. The civilian population was hardest hit as the EPLF forces had followed the Ethiopian troops to Ghinda. Notable of this bombardment was that

napalm Napalm is an incendiary mixture of a gelling agent and a volatile petrochemical (usually gasoline (petrol) or diesel fuel). The name is a portmanteau of two of the constituents of the original thickening and gelling agents: coprecipitated al ...

and

cluster bombs A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller submunitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill personnel and destroy vehicl ...

were used.

Commemoration

The battle was commemorated by a

memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of a ...

of three tanks in War Memory Square near the Massawa city centre on Tualud Island by the entrance to the causeway to the mainland. In 2004 on the fourteenth anniversary of the battle, Eritrea issued a set of two stamps and a three-stamp minisheet honoring the "Liberation of Massawa". Pictured on the 40c was the tank memorial with fountain, on the 50c was a speedboat (gunboat) with soldiers.Eritrea #377-379 ''Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue'' (Volume 2, 2011)

References

External links

"Eritrea's Operation Fenkil: Final Assault on Massawa with Speed Boats 1990"
Google video {{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of Massawa (1990) Massawa 1990 in Ethiopia Massawa (1990) Conflicts in 1990 Massawa (1990) February 1990 events in Africa

Battle

Commemoration

See also

References

External links