The Eritrean War of Independence was fought as a guerrilla campaign by two main Eritrean liberation fronts, first by the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) and then, after the Eritrean Civil Wars, by the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) against the Ethiopian Empire, and later the Marxist Derg regime . This asymmetrical campaign against Ethiopian control left the Ethiopian military at a disadvantage and so it embarked on a policy of destroying Eritrean villages. It was hoped that this would prevent the separatists from continuing their campaign. Listed below are some of the major civilian massacres committed by both the Ethiopian Empire and the Derg.
| Date | Deaths | Location | Description of event | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967-07-24 | 172 | Hazemo | Several villages wiped out and the throats of men slit in front of their wives and children.[1] [2] | |
| Late 1967 | Approx 50 | Akordat | Students suspected of being members of the ELF were hanged in the centre of town. Parents of the slain were forced, by the Ethiopian Army, to unhang their dead children and take them home. | |
| 6 August 1970 | Missian | Ethiopian Army entered the village killing all civilians men and burning down the village totally. | ||
| 1970-01-17 | 60 | Elabared | The village elders were rounded up for supporting the Eritrean Liberation Front and killed.[3] | |
| 1970-11-30 | 120 | Besikdira | The entire village was rounded up into the local mosque and the mosque's doors were locked, the building was then razed and survivors were shot.[4] | |
| 1970-12-01 | 800+ | Ona | Ethiopian Army units surrounded the village killing civilians and burning down the village.[5] | |
| 1974-07-10 | 170+ | Om Hajer | ||
| 1974-12-28 | 45[6] | Asmara | Students were strangled to death using piano strings, their bodies were dumped in alleyways and doorsteps. | |
| 1971 | Approx 70 | Keren | Students and youth suspected of supporting the ELF were publicly executed by hanging. Family members were forced to attend the execution and cut down their children from the noose. | |
| 1975-02-14 | 3000[7] [8] | Asmara, Surrounding villages | Shortly after an EPLF attack on two Ethiopian divisions, Ethiopian troops fire upon civilians gathered in Churches, homes and schools. | |
| 1975-02-02 | 80-103 | Wekiduba | During an engagement with the EPLF and ELF the Ethiopian Army attacked the church where villagers had taken refuge. The massacre is known is Eritrea as Black Saturday.[9] | |
| 1975-03-09 | 258 | Agordat | After several ELF attacks on the town the Ethiopian Army retaliated on the local population. | |
| 1975-04-17 | 235-470[10] | Hirgigo | ||
| August 1975 | ~250 | Om Hajer | The villagers were machine gunned in front of a river to prevent escape. | |
| 1976-12-30 | 105 | Hirgigo | ||
| 1985-10-19 | 39 | Mogoraib | ||
| April 1988 | 3 | Agordat | Killed by aerial attacks.50 ELF Martyr[11] Eritrea | |
| 1988-05-04 | unknown | Shebah | ||
| 1988-12-05 | 400+[12] | She'eb | The dead were mostly women and children as the men had moved to the towns to eke out a living for their impoverished village. | |
| 3–4 April 1990 | 67 killed, 125 wounded | Afabet | Aerial attacks | |
| 24 April 1990 | 50 killed, 110 wounded | Massawa | Aerial attacks, cluster bombs[13] Throughout the conflict Ethiopia used "anti-personnel gas"[14] |