Editing Eritrean Defence Forces (section)

==History==
===Pre-independence===
Military history in [[Eritrea]] stretches back for thousands of years; from ancient times to present day, the society of the Eritreans have dealt with both war and peace. During the kingdom of [[Medri Bahri]], the military fought numerous battles against the invading forces of the Abyssinians to the south and the [[Ottoman Turks]] at the Red Sea.<ref name="google">{{cite book|title=Eritrea: A Pawn in World Politics|author=Yohannes, O.|date=1991|publisher=University of Florida Press|isbn=9780813010441|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sG41eDVRDnoC|page=31|access-date=27 October 2014}}</ref>

During the 16th century, the port of [[Massawa]] was used by the Ottomans to protect sea lanes from disruption, while more recently it was used by the Italians during their colonial occupation. The kingdom of Medri Bahri was dissolved and the [[Italian Eritrea|Colony of Eritrea]] was founded by the Italians in 1890, shortly after the opening of the [[Suez Canal]]. When Italian troops occupied Ethiopia in 1936, Eritrean native soldiers (known as [[Askari#Italian colonies|Askaris]]) supported the invading force. However, this was reversed by British and Ethiopian troops in 1941. The Eritrean infantry battalions and cavalry squadrons of the "[[Royal Corps of Colonial Troops|Regio Corpo Truppe Coloniali]]" (Royal Colonial Corps) saw extensive service in the various Italian colonial territories between 1888 and 1942.

During the war for Eritrea's independence rebel movements (the [[Eritrean Liberation Front|ELF]] and the [[Eritrean People's Liberation Front|EPLF]]) used volunteers. In the final years of the struggle for independence, the EPLF ranks grew to 110,000 volunteers (some 3% of the total population).<ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1992/10/13/eritrea-operating-as-a-land-in-limbo/bd119947-e36c-468d-b664-040912e669d5/| title = Eritrea Operating As a Land in Limbo | newspaper = [[The Washington Post]]}}</ref>{{Citation needed|reason= a claim of numbers requires a source |date=November 2020}}

===Independence (1991–present)===
{{POV|date=March 2021}}
During the first two decades of independence, the EDF formally had the power to detain and arrest civilians, and used this power to help police detain and arrest civilians, which systematically happened for arbitrary reasons. Together with police, [[EPLF]] members and government officials, the EDF carried out widespread torture of Eritreans.<ref name="EHREA_Lasting_Struggle" />

Military-run prisons included the underground ''Track B'' (or ''Tract B'') in the west of Asmara, holding 2,000 detainees; ''Adi Abeto'' near Asmara; ''Wi'a'', 32&nbsp;km south of [[Massawa]], for holding military prisoners (escaped conscripts and draft evaders) and members of unauthorised religions; ''Mitire'', in north-eastern Eritrea for religious prisoners; ''Haddis Ma'askar'', mostly underground, near the ''Sawa'' military base; ''Ala Bazit'' in a desert next to the [[Ala mountains]]; and ''Mai Dima'' near [[Berakit Mountain]] for [[Kunama people|Kunama]] detainees.<ref name="EHREA_Lasting_Struggle" />

====Tigray War====
{{Update|date=October 2022}}{{main|Tigray War}}
In the [[Tigray War]], the EDF was attributed the main responsibility for the [[extrajudicial killing]] of hundreds of civilians in the [[Aksum massacre]], that mainly took place on 28–29 November 2020 in [[Aksum]], according to investigations by [[Amnesty International]] and [[Human Rights Watch]].<ref name="Amnesty_Aksum_massacre_26Feb2021" /><ref name="HRW_EDF_massacres_Tigray_civilians" /> {{As of|2021|02|26}}, just after the publication of the Amnesty International report, ''[[Al Jazeera English]]'' had not received responses from Eritrean officials, but commented that the Eritrean Minister of Information had stated in January 2021 that "the rabid defamation campaign against Eritrea [was] on the rise again".<ref name="AJE_Aksum_Eritrea_troops" />

On 12 November 2021, the [[United States Department of the Treasury|U.S. Department of the Treasury]]'s [[Office of Foreign Assets Control]] added the EDF to its [[Specially Designated Nationals (SDN)]] list for being "a government entity that has engaged in, or whose members have engaged in, activities that have contributed to the crisis in northern Ethiopia or have obstructed a ceasefire or peace process to resolve such crisis".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Treasury Sanctions Four Entities and Two Individuals in Connection with the Crisis in Ethiopia|url=https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0478|access-date=2022-01-16|website=U.S. Department of the Treasury|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Ethiopia-Related Designations; Kingpin Act Designations Removals; Issuance of Ethiopia-Related General License and Frequently Asked Questions|url=https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/recent-actions/20211112|access-date=2022-01-16|website=U.S. Department of the Treasury|language=en}}</ref>