Left to right: Mohamed Ali Afarorah and Mohamed Osman Yusuf Saig
Fisseha Abraha Fikak
So that the young generation understands the
sacrifices made for this country, a country that has been high jacked by the
ruling junta. This is an account of a special unit in the ELF, called
‘Punishment’ that was established in the late 1960s to target Ethiopian planes,
as legitimate targets, as they transported soldiers and weapons to Eritrea. It
was during one of those operations that the late Pakistani Prime Minister, when
young, defended the Eritrean Fedayeen to be released from jail there. In all
the five operations, there were no human casualties.
The heroic operations
of the ‘Punishment’, special unit
The late, Osman Denden, in his book, "The battle of
Eritrea", in Arabic, documents the struggle of the Eritrean people for
independence. We present below excerpts from the book on that special unit,
‘Punishment’ or Igab, in Arabic.
‘Igab’ which literary
translates to ‘Punishment’, in English is a type of bird of prey in
North America. This was the name given to a special commando unit, in the
Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF). The late Osman Saleh Sabbe, established and it
was supervised personally by him. He selected the members of the unit and even participated
in transporting weapons and explosives to the site of the operations. The
commando unit was formed early 1969 in a document written in blood whose
operations were to be governed by international laws regarding war. It gave the
Eritrean revolution the right to target economic interests of the enemy on the
ground, in the air and the sea.
After the end of the Arab-Israeli war of 1967, the Ethiopian foreign
minister stated that now that the main supporters of the Eritrean revolution
had been defeated, it was an opportune time to crush the Eritrean revolution
once and for all.
After this statement, the Ethiopian forces started
the implementation of the "scorched earth" policy in 1967 using
indiscriminate bombing of villages and killing civilians mainly in the lowlands
and Muslim villages in the highlands. Even livestock were not spared and wells
were poisoned. Asrate Kassa, the then Governor (Enderassie) of Eritrea oversaw
the implementation. It was during this period the first wave of Eritrean
refugees entered the Sudan. Some of those refugees still live in the same
refugee camps, today.
During this period, the Ethiopian army committed
grave atrocities, without the knowledge of the international community. The
late Sabbe established that unit to attract world attention to what was going
on in Eritrea. Ethiopian planes that were carrying soldiers and weapons to
Eritrea were considered, legitimate targets. The members of the Unit were
selected from ELF foreign offices and included a 14 year old boy by the name
Ahmed Amin Berhan. One of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) leaders,
the late Abu Iyad (Walid Nimir) personally supervised the training of the
members in one of the PLO training camps.
Regarding highjacking of airplanes, the author
states that it was the United States that was a pioneer in highjacking
airplanes. He indicates that the US
planned and funded the high jacking of Cuban civilian and military airplanes,
since 1958. 23 Cuban planes were
high jacked and taken to the US. He claims that the US allowed the kidnappers
to destroy or auction the highjacked airplanes. He further states the US
abandoned the highjacking of Cuban airplanes only when the US planes highjacked
and taken to Cuba were more than those high jacked by the US.
Other countries were also involved in highjacking
of airplanes. In October 1956, France high jacked a Moroccan airplane where one
of its passengers was the Algerian liberation leader, Ahmed Ben Bella, and his
colleagues. He was imprisoned in Paris for six years.
Israel had a track record of hijacking, shooting
down of civilian aircraft, or forcing them to land in its territory. This
included a British plane where some of the passengers were Algerian officers which
was forced to land in an Israeli Airport, Lod (now called Ben Gurion Airport).
The damage done to Ethiopian Airlines, by the
Punishment Unit, was enormous. A number of airplanes were made out of service
and the operations are estimated to have reduced passenger numbers to around
40%. The insurance companies refused to pay any compensation of losses as those
were regarded due to sabotage that was not covered by insurance.
The first commando operation
At about 8 pm on a Tuesday, the 11th March 1969, an Ethiopian passenger plane, a
Boeing 707, was destroyed at Frankfurt airport, Germany, as time bombs placed
by the Fedayeen under the seats adjacent to the wings of the plane exploded. As
a result the plane was divided into two parts. No one was hurt, as the timing was
carefully planned. The passengers had left the plane and even cleaners in
Frankfurt had finished their work and left the plane before denotation. The German
newspaper, Suddeutsche Zeitung estimated the losses at DM 25
million.
The incident generated worldwide attention. The Ethiopian
Government, issued a statement, accusing Syria of masterminding the
incident. Syria responded denying the Ethiopian allegations. Emperor Haile
Selassie threatened to take to strong measures against Yemeni communities in
Eritrea and Ethiopia. The Fedayeen who carried out the operation, were able to
leave Frankfurt airport at lightning speed, due to prior arrangements have made
it possible for them leave the targeted Ethiopian plane they boarded from
Athens in Greece and left to West Berlin and later to East Berlin with forged
Ethiopian passports and returned to their base safely. The two fighters who
took part in the operation were: Mohamed Osman Yusuf Saig and Mohamed Ali Omar Afarorah.
The second operation
On the 8th of June
1969, three members of the special unit destroyed an Ethiopian
Airlinee Boeing 720 at Karachi Airport, Pakistan. The airplane had arrived
there from Cairo on its way to New Delhi. The three militants infiltrated into
the Karachi airport across the barbed wire surrounding it. The ammunition used
in the attack was brought by Osman Sabbe to Karachi. Two of guerrilla fighters got
into the plane and asked the remaining passengers and the crew to disembark and
placed explosives of the plane. The plane was completely destroyed and its
pieces spread in the airport. What made the effect of the explosions heavy was
because the plane was being re-fuelled. The explosion covered a large area and threatened
the destruction of other airplanes in the airport.
At the end of the operation, the three guerrilla
fighters surrendered themselves and their weapons to authorities in Pakistan.
They indicated that they were members of the ELF and had leaflets explaining
the Ethiopian authorities’ atrocities in Eritrea.
On the 30th of June, 1969,
they were brought to a Pakistani court which sentenced them to long term
imprisonment and they were:
1. Ali Said Abdella, sentenced for 20 years (former Foreign Minister and died
2005)
2. Fisseha Abreha Fikak was sentenced for 23 year-old
(He was earlier a member of Ethiopian Commandos who joined the ELF, he died not
long after the event)
3. Mohamed
Idris Tilul who used to work in Saudi Arabia and had volunteered to train with
other volunteers.
After the ruling of the court, The President of the
Pakisatani Lawyers association and seven Pakistani lawyers volunteered to
defend them. They explained to the court that they participants in the
operation were guerrilla fighter who were members of the Eritrean Liberation
Army that was fighting for a just cause and that the operation they conducted
was politically motivated against Ethiopian occupation and against atrocities
committed against the civilian population in Eritrea. The prison sentences were
reduced to two years.
The Ethiopian Government had sent the Ethiopian
State Minister, Seyoum Haregot (Eritrean, son of Haregot Abbay) who was married
the granddaughter of the Emperor to Pakistan. He demanded the extradition of
the three commando to the Ethiopian Government. Seyoum and his Ethiopian
entourage stayed 10 days in Karachi but failed to achieve any results.
When the news of the arrest of the three Eritrea
Fedayeen spread across Pakistan, the late Pakistani Prime Minister, Benazir
Bhutto (when she was young) used to visit the Eritrean prisoners and brought
them food. The prisoners did not know her identity until they were released
after serving their sentence. They were able to return to their base safely by
the help of the late Palestinian leader, Khelil El Wazir (Abu Jihad) who
happened to be passing by Pakistan from China. He met the three Eritreans and
asked the Palestinian representative in Pakistan then, Khalid Al Sheikh to
provide all assistance to them.
-----------------------------
The third operation which was most daring
On the day of 13th
of September 1969, members of the unit highjacked an Ethiopian Airline plane
that was travelling from Addis Ababa to Djibouti and forced it to land in Aden,
Yemen. This incident which happened in Addis shock the Ethiopian security, in
terms of place and its timing. Addis Ababa was preparing to receive the African
Heads of State, during that period.
Before the highjacking
event, Members of the ELF in the Ethiopian capital succeeded in leaking a
memorandum written by the ELF explaining to the Heads of States at the then
Organization of African Unity (OAU) about the atrocities committed by the
Ethiopian Government in Eritrea and asking them to discuss the Eritrean
question. Every one was surprised when that memo was distributed to the Heads
of States, at the Conference hall. In the memo, the ELF indicated that it will
resort to all available means to pursue its legitimate struggle.
When the highjacked plane
landed at the airport Aden and when one of the Eritrean Fedayeen was leaving
the Cabin, an Ethiopian security in the plane shot and injured him. The
Fedayyen exchanged fire with the security officer and injured him, but he was,
himself, seriously injured. None of the passengers were hurt during the
shootout. The hero of the whole operation was a 14 year old boy, Ahmed Amin
Burhan, an Eritrean who was born and grew up in Somalia as his family had
immigrated there, during the Italian occupation. His mission was transfer the
weapons to be used in the operation through Khartoum to Addis. He accomplished
that mission successfully. The other two were, Mohamed Saeed Salih Sengour, the
leader of the group who was injured and Mohamed Saleh Yehlly.
The fourth Operation
It took place on November 1969, and the aim was to highjack an
Ethiopian Airline plane, a Boeing 720 that was on route from Madrid to Addis
through Athens. The three Fedayeen arrived at Madrid Airport from Rome. While
they were at the airport lounge, security officers at the airport were
suspicious of a handbag that was with one of them. They searched the bag and
found weapons in it and so he was arrested. The other two boarded the plane
without knowing that their colleague was arrested in Madrid.
Ethiopia had tightened
security at its airplanes. There were 12 security men at that plane, armed with
rubber bullets. When the two Fedayeen boarded the plane, they found that some
of the front seats had cards on them that indicated they were reserved so that two
persons could not sit together. When the plane took off, the security officers
who had identified the Fedayeen, stabbed them with daggers, and killed them. A
Champagne was served to the passengers as a form of celebration. When the plane
landed at Athens, the Airport authorities refused to arrest those involved,
making an excuse that the murder did not take place at Greek territory and the
plane was allowed to continue its journey to Addis. The two who were martyred
at that operation were Ali Mohamed Omer and Hamid Shenin. Their colleague who
was arrested in Spain for several years was Mahmoud Suleiman.
Picture Courtesy of Biniam Hirut who posted it at FB-group: Historical Pictures from the Horn
The nationalities indicated could be the fake passports they were holding
The fifth attempt
Emperor Haile Selassie had
planned to visit Italy in June 1969. The Unit planned an operation in Italy
to blow up the Ethiopian Embassy in Rome so as to prevent that visit from
taking place and to attract the attention of the Italians to the Eritrean
cause. The Unit member who was assigned to do this was Mohammed Saeed Berhatu,
a 26-year old who was studying in Cairo during that period. The time bomb that
he was fixing to use exploded, while he was preparing to leave the Hotel to
carry out his assignment and he was killed. This was on the morning of June 20,
1969.
Other highjacking of Ethiopian planes that took
place during that period:
On 23 January, four Ethiopian
students high jacked an Ethiopian Airlines plane that was on domestic flight and
forced it to land at Benghazi airport, in Libya They stated that they were not
members of the ELF, but high jacked the plane in protest to a massacre that the
Ethiopian army carried out in Eritrea. The ELF representative in Libya convinced the Libyan
authorities to allow the students to travel to whatever destination they wanted
to leave.
Another Ethiopian
military plane was highjacked by its Eritrean pilot, Afworki Mengistu and was
made to land at a military airport in northern Somalia. This was done in
coordination with a clandestine cell of the ELF in Addis Ababa and Somali
authorities. This event took place in November 1971.
The author of the book, states that the Ethiopian security services were
trying to catch the mastermind of those highjackings and so the Ethiopian
Airlines was made to hire one of the Middle East Airlines planes to operate in
the Aden-Jeddah-Beirut route. The plane run with the Ethiopian Airlines Logo
and staff. The Palestinian security uncovered the plot in time and warned Osman
Sabbe and the ELF leadership not to use the Middle East Airlines, particularly
on that route.
Translated from Osman Denden’s book
"The battle of Eritrea", in Arabic
(1995)
------------------------
This note was originally prepared by Hamid Idris
Awate FB page, in Arabic
