Eritrean Liberation Front

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Eritrean Liberation Front
Tigrinya: ተጋደሎ ሓርነት ኤርትራ Arabic: جبهة التحرير الإريترية Italian: Fronte di Liberazione Eritreo
Flag of the ELF adopted from the flag of the Eritrean-Ethiopian federation
Founders	Idris Mohammed Adem
Leaders	Idris Mohammed Adem (1960–1975) Ahmed Mohammed Nasser (1975–1982)
Dates of operation	1960–1981
Country	Eritrea
Headquarters	Kassala, Sudan (1965)
Active regions	Eritrea (1960–1981)
Ideology	Eritrean nationalism
Allies	EPLF (1970–1972, 1974–1980) Cuba (until 1975) China (until 1972) Syria Ba'athist Iraq Saudi Arabia Libya Sudan Somalia
Opponents	EPLF (1972–1974, 1980–1981) Derg TPLF
Battles and wars	Eritrean War of Independence Battle of Adal Battle of Omal Battle of Halhal Battle of Togoruba Siege of Barentu Ethiopian Civil War Eritrean Civil Wars
Preceded by Eritrean Liberation Movement Succeeded by Eritrean People's Liberation Front

Politics of Eritrea
Constitution (not enforced)
Executive President Isaias Afwerki Cabinet
Legislature National Assembly Chairman: Isaias Afwerki
Judiciary High Court Regional Courts Community Courts Special Court
Elections
Political parties PFDJ
Administrative divisions Regions (Zobas) Administrators Assemblies Subregions
Foreign relations Ministry of Foreign Affairs Minister: Osman Saleh Mohammed Diplomatic missions of / in Eritrea Passport Visa requirements Visa policy Foreign aid to Eritrea
Related topics Human rights
Eritrea portal Other countries
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The Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF; Tigrinya: ተጋደሎ ሓርነት ኤርትራ; Arabic: جبهة التحرير الإريترية; Italian: Fronte di Liberazione Eritreo), colloquially known as Jebha, was the main independence movement in Eritrea which sought Eritrea's independence from Ethiopia during the 1960s and the early 1970s. It was established in 1960 after Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie violated a 1952 UN resolution that guaranteed Eritrea the right to an autonomous government. Idris Muhammad Adam and other Eritrean intellectuals founded the ELF as a primary Pan Arab movement in Cairo, but the first attack was led by Hamid Idris Awate in 1961. Over the course of the 1960s, the ELF was able to obtain support from Arab countries such as Egypt and Sudan. However, tensions between Muslims and Christians in the ELF along with the failure of the ELF to ward off Ethiopia's 1967–1968 counter offensive internally fractured the ELF, causing it to split. By the mid 1970s, the ELF and the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF), an ideologically Maoist liberation movement, were the key liberation movements in Eritrea. The EPLF ultimately overtook the ELF as the primary Eritrean independence movement by 1977, and the ELF was subsequently defeated in 1981.