For years, questions have persisted over whether Isaias
Afwerki was recruited during the liberation struggle—either by the CIA to
infiltrate and weaken the ELF, by Ethiopian authorities under Asrate Medhin
Kassa, or potentially through overlapping channels involving both, with alleged
external intelligence links, particularly the Mossad.
In early November 2025, an Eritrean state media figure acknowledged for the first time that Isaias was summoned from the field to meet U.S. officials at Kagnew Station in Asmara. According to the regime’s propagandist, Awel Seid, who said, “ I want to tell you a secret today. Fighter Isaias was called from the field to Kagnew Station in Asmara to speak with American officials. The Americans asked Isaias to declare that he was fighting against Muslims, and if he did that, they would support him with all he needed.” According to Awel, Isaias refused. No one from inside Eritrea would have dared to speak about this issue without clearance from the security services. The claims continue to fuel debate over the origins and external influences surrounding Eritrea’s armed movements. Listen to this, at the beginning of this video: https://www.facebook.com/reel/2590920941269435
Another recent confirmation (June 7, 2020) that Isaias Afworki worked for Asrate
Kassa, who supplied his faction with arms. Listen from 08:50 – 16:00 minutes
Captain Tesfaye Resteye, was a former Ethiopian police
officer who served as an investigator in the security services in Asmara, Assab,
and Tio in 1973 during the Haile Sellasie period. He also worked as the head of the
foreign intelligence of the Ethiopian Security Services (ESS) upon return from
a training course in Moscow, during the Derg period. The foreign intelligence
then focussed on the Middle East and the follow-up of the Eritrean liberation
movement. His last position during the Derg was the Head of the Legal
Department of the ESS.
During his service in Eritrea, he was sent to investigate
the army atrocities after a clash with the fighters in Baraasole in Dankalia.
He narrates that he tried to calm the citizens. Tesfaye clarified his
first interaction with Asrate Kassa. When
he was on his way to Assab, Asrate Kassa, who was the Governor on an army
communications radio called him directly and asked him, for a briefing, At the
end of their conversation, Asrate Kassa asked him to write 1000 bullets were
fired. Still, Tesfaye declined to document the bullet numbers. He further
stated the reason they were asking was to give the shots to the enemy to compensate
for their loss.
Captian Tesfaye added, “Asrate Kassa wanted to give those
bullets to the faction of Isayas Afworki.” Tesfaye added that Asrate Kassa realized
that there were two factions, a Muslim and a Christian one, and he recruited
Isaias to weaken the ELF, which he regarded as a Muslim movement. He adds that
Asrate Kassa supplied arms to the Isaias faction and introduced Isaias Afworki
to the Americans at Kangnew Station. He also stated during his investigation
of fighters who were caught or defected, the defected said they joined
the liberation movement to get 1500 Birr and a pistol. Tesfaye added that Asrate Kassa used to give
the defected fighters those benefits. He states that Asrate Kassa was working
to depose Haile Sellasie and replace him with the Crown Prince.
He also narrates how the Derg was formed. Captain Tesfaye
also explains how the Derg members were selected, the killing of the 60 high-ranking officers, and how Haile Sellasie was deposed and killed by giving him
anesthesia and choking him to death.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6joCaOJokzM&t=2917s
The full document, 'Isaias Spy or Revolutionary can be downloaded Here: https://www.mediafire.com/file/hwsc7geqjc2o4io/Isaias_Afworki_Spy_or_Revolutionary.pdf/file
