From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Sat Jun 20 2009 - 16:34:20 EDT
Shaebia Commando
Fithi Andom, Jun 20, 2009
Different artistic productions were released after the commando
operation that depicts the heroic act of the commandos. One in
particular was Ahmed Shaebi's song 'shaebia commando' (The people's
commando). This song praises the commandos for what they had
accomplished and it even goes beyond and describes the front and the
people as commandos. It symbolized the commando operation and made it
common sense that any Eritrean is his own commando when it comes to
self-defense and determination. Soon the term commando became a synonym
for Eritrean wills that made the impossible possible.
May 21st 1984, a highly trained special commando troops were on a
top-secret and risky mission. They were going to pierce into the enemy
lines and strike from the inside. The commandos trained in the
Revolution's base, Sahel, which is more than 250 kilometers afar from
Asmara. And after tremendous and extensive field research, they came all
the way to Asmara unnoticed and were ready to strike their target at
20:00 military time.
Sixteen in number, armed with kalashnkov and light-weapon; the commandos
went into the enemy lines and attacked the then Ethiopia Air Force. The
operation took place with in 18 minutes of action, leaving more than
thirty warplanes burned to ashes.
It was Sunday afternoon, 14 June 2009 then - in memory of this twenty
five year old event -teenagers, children, adults, military personnel,
public and military officials were present at the resting place of
Mebrahtu Ghebrehiwet, code named as Embaye, the only commando who
martyred at the action.
The attendants of the commemorative ceremony
One of the commandos, Major Tecklebrhan Yohanes was there to narrate
about the operation and the fallen hero. When he was reflecting back to
the day and the month and the year of the operation, he must have been
so overwhelmed by the sheer bravery of the commandos, that he was
nonstopably and repeatedly saying, 'it is a wonder, it is like the word
impossible never existed'.
At the commemorative ceremony, the kids who only know about their
history in books were listening attentively to the narrator, for they
were smitten by the 'Rambo' kind of story. Major Teklebrhan was trying
to contain the overwhelming emotions and memories that rushed through
his mind and at the same time to narrate about the operation to the
youngsters comprehensively. He was desperate to remember it all, to pick
the details from here and there, trying to capture the indomitable
determination of the commandos.
At its blow-out, the commando operation became the symbol of Eritrean
will to freedom; Eritreans would pierce into the heart of the enemy and
accomplish what is thought to be impossible, to get what was long stolen
from their rightful possession- Their self-determination.
A member of the Eritrean Air Force standing over the wreckage of the
operation
The enemy was forever haunted by the sudden and unanticipated attack.
And when one comes across the story of martyr Mebrahtu, one can imagine
the magnitude of its effect. History tells it that when the soldiers of
the enemy captured his deceased body, they were going to torture his
body as a means of a revenge, but the then Ethiopian dictator, Mengstu
Hailemariam, ordered them to 'bury him properly as a hero should be
buried, because he was a hero'.
And not long ago did the border-war broke out between Eritrea and
Ethiopia in 1998, that the Ethiopian government started to deport
Eritreans who reside in Ethiopia at an instant denying them the time and
opportunity to manage their affairs. The deportees asked why, and the
Ethiopian government announced that 'you are shaebia's commando'.
Fourteen years later, the commando operation continued to haunt those
who dared a war with Eritrea. More than the actual operation, the
symbolic meaning attached to it surpassed and echoed throughout the
borders. And Eritreans were called commandos and forced to leave what
they call home. And now twenty-five years later, the iconic meaning of
commandos is transcending the test of time, running still in the blood
of young Eritreans, who are toiling and tossing to melt down the
impossible in development endeavors withstanding the age of global
challenges.
http://www.shaebia.org/artman/publish/article_5860.shtml
<http://www.shaebia.org/images/logo_bg3.jpg>
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