History
Along with Zana, Shiraro was an early hotbed of Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF) support. According to Gebru Tareke, the TPLF made Shiraro its base between 1979-1980, not only creating a support infrastructure there but also cultivating the land to grow cereals such as corn and sorghum, and cash crops like sesame. Eventually the Derg, the ruling military junta of Ethiopia, directed a military campaign to crush the TPLF at its base. On 12 February 1980, they launched Operation Shiraro, in which four brigades of 4,000 men under the command of Colonel Tariku Ayne advanced first to the TPLF base on the Sur River, which they destroyed then on 25 February departed for Shiraro, which they found deserted and the TPLF positioned on the heights. On the next day, although without intelligence about their opponents, the Derg soldiers advanced into an open field -- where the TPLF ambushed them. After four hours of fierce fighting, the four brigades of the defenders dissolved and the men retreated in disarray. Their casualties were 117 dead (including three battalion and three company commanders) and 292 wounded (including 11 officers).
When the Derg evacuated the town for the last time in 1985, allegedly the soldiers left land mines and hidden bombs which injured some people who had returned from hiding in the countryside. Shiraro was subjected to an aerial attack by Derg aircraft 12 December 1988, which killed 8 people.
Shiraro experienced shelling on 21 October 1998, during the Eritrean-Ethiopian War. Its inhabitants and refugees from the surrounding area who had sought safety in the town, fled to a camp near Zeban Gedena, about 15 kilometers to the southeast.
Read more about this topic: Shiraro, Ethiopia
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