Major General Hadush "Hayelom" Araya (1955–1996) is a former member of the
Tigrayan Peoples' Liberation Front
The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF; ti, ህዝባዊ ወያነ ሓርነት ትግራይ, lit=Popular Struggle for the Freedom of Tigray), also called the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, is a left-wing ethnic nationalist paramilita ...
(TPLF), which was the leading member of the
(EPRDF) political coalition. While fighting as a TPLF fighter, he earned the nickname Hayelom, "Overpowering" for his brave and daring acts.
[Gebru Tareke, ''The Ethiopian Revolution: War in the Horn of Africa'' (New Haven: Yale University, 2009), p. 105 ]
He was born in
Addi Nebreid in
Northwestern Tigray, and although he completed high school in
Adwa. After the
Ethiopian revolution
The Derg (also spelled Dergue; , ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, then including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when the military leadership formally " c ...
broke out, he joined the TPLF. As a commander of EPRDF forces, General Hayelom led his forces to northern
Shewa and later marched to
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...
coming out victorious in 1991. One of his most daring acts was the "
Agazi Operation", which happened on the early evening of 5 February 1985: he led a squad of TPLF fighters in attacking the main prison in
Mek'ele
Mekelle ( ti, መቐለ, am, መቀሌ, mäqälle, mek’elē) or Mekele is a special zone and capital of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Mekelle was formerly the capital of Enderta awraja in Tigray. It is located around north of the Ethiopia ...
, and freed over a thousand prisoners, killed 16 prison guards and wounded 9 soldiers without losing a single man.
[Gebru, ''Ethiopian Revolution'', pp. 104f] He later become one of the military leaders in the defence force of the
Transitional Government of Ethiopia
The Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE) was an era established immediately after the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) seized power from the Marxist-Leninist People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE) in 1991. ...
.
General Hayelom was shot down point blank in a restaurant bar in Addis Ababa on 14 February 1996; the motives for his assassination still remain unexplained. In May 2008, the Late General Hayelom Araya Monument was unveiled at his birthplace,
Shire, in the
Tigray Region
The Tigray Region, officially the Tigray National Regional State, is the northernmost regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob, and Kunama people. Its capital and largest city is Mekelle. Tigray ...
.
[
]
See also
* Holeta
Holeta ( Oromo: ''Holataa'') is a town in the special zone of Oromia Region, Ethiopia. It has a latitude and longitude of and an altitude of 2391 meters above sea level.
History
Holeta came into existence with the construction of the Addis ...
References
1955 births
1996 deaths
People from Tigray Region
Ethiopian generals
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