People / group

Eritrean Liberation Front

1960–1981 · 20th century

The Eritrean Liberation Front was a nationalist movement founded in Cairo in 1960 by Eritrean exiles to win independence from Ethiopia. Its fighters under Hamid Idris Awate began the armed struggle in September 1961. Divisions within the front led to the breakaway of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front in the 1970s, which defeated the ELF in a civil war and drove it into Sudan in 1981.

Eritrean Liberation Front
Image: Orange Tuesday Original uploader was Orange Tuesday at en.wikipedia · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 state history

Eritrea (federation)

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Eritrean Liberation Front. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/eritrean-liberation-front
MLA
“Eritrean Liberation Front.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/eritrean-liberation-front. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Eritrean Liberation Front.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/eritrean-liberation-front.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Eritrean Liberation Front’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/eritrean-liberation-front (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻