In March 1988, EPLF fighters shattered Ethiopia's northern command in what military historians call one of Africa's most decisive battles.
The hills above Afabet had seen fighting before, but nothing like what unfolded over four days in March 1988. EPLF forces, having spent years perfecting mobile warfare in the trenches of Sahel, executed a coordinated assault that destroyed three Soviet-equipped Ethiopian divisions and captured enough armour to equip a small army.
Military analysts who have studied the campaign note that it prefigured the tactics later used in the final push to Asmara in 1991 — speed, surprise, and the ability to turn captured weapons against their former owners.
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