On September 1, 1961 Hamid Idriss Awate, the former Italian Ascari, is considered to have fired the first shot in the liberation of Eritrea. There is much that is still unknown about Awate but recorded interviews with his comrades indicate that he was harassing the Ethiopian Army with just a few rifles and only 7 men for years in his native Gash Barka demanding that the Ethiopian flag come down and be replaced with the Eritrean one. Following the increasing brutality by the Ethiopian Army in lowland Eritrea, he steadily gained more followers in 1960 and 1961. Needing more ammunition for his men he launched a daring attack on a police post and arms depot in Western Eritrea on September 1, 1961 that lasted for several hours. That night's gunfire exchange with the Ethiopian Army marked the first shot being fired in liberation of Eritrea. That night's armed conflict started a chain of events that led to the long and bitter armed struggle for the liberation
of Eritrea. The resistance gradually spread to the highlands and culminated with the total liberation of Eritrea in 1991. Indeed long before the heroic tegadeltis of Nakfa, there was the Lion of Gash Barka. Happy Awate Day!
Received on Thu Aug 29 2013 - 22:38:56 EDT