The Story of Extraordinary Loyalty by an Afar Young Man, Ismail Hassan, Who Guarded a Buried Weapons Depot of the Eritrean Liberation Front in Dankalia for 13 Years

 

The Story of Extraordinary Loyalty by an Afar Young Man, Ismail Hassan, Who Guarded a Buried Weapons Depot of the Eritrean Liberation Front in Dankalia for 13 Years

This story was narrated by Alamin Omar Osman in the Agordat group:

In October 1994, our battalion was deployed as part of the 491st Division in the Dankalia region, specifically in the area of Kiluma. We were undergoing regular military training when, on one November night, it was decided that we would conduct a night exercise known as Gu'zo Agri (a night march). We set off on foot from the outskirts of the Kiluma camp, with our intended destination being Mount Musa, located at the border triangle of Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Djibouti. However, our route was later altered to head southwest.

While marching in the darkness, our company commander, Wedeqshi, ordered us to halt after he heard the sound of a radio coming from an isolated area. Three soldiers were dispatched to investigate the source of the sound, and to our surprise, they found a man holding a radio. His name was Ismail Hassan, an Afar by ethnicity.

The commander immediately began questioning him: “What brought you to this remote place?” Ismail confidently replied, “I am guarding buried weapons that belong to the Liberation Front.” He pointed to the site, leaving us all astonished, since the Liberation Front had withdrawn from Dankalia back in 1981.

The first platoon quickly moved to the indicated location and escorted Ismail with us. The following morning, three military trucks of the Ural type arrived, and the depot was opened. It was filled with ammunition crates and some light to medium weapons, which were then transported to maintenance warehouses for inspection.

Despite Ismail’s clear display of patriotic devotion, he was arrested on the charge of “concealing weapons,” a move that sparked wide controversy among us. Later, an emergency meeting was held for all members of the brigade, during which the brigade commander addressed us, emphasizing that what Ismail had done was a rare example of loyalty to the nation. He said: “The Liberation Front ended years ago, yet it seems your father Ismail continued to dream of its return. Some of you complain about standing guard for one hour, while this man guarded a site for more than 13 years.”

Ismail later explained: “I expected the Front to return until 1990, so I made sure to come every three days to guard the site. After that, once a week. And after liberation, I started coming once a month depending on my circumstances. It was by coincidence that I happened to be here today when you passed by.”

This story embodies the loyalty of the fighters of the Eritrean Liberation Front and their deep commitment to their homeland and people. For them, the Front was a matter of life or death — Jabha or death.