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1. Ethiopian National Defense
Force
የኢፌዲሪ መከላከያ ሠራዊት
Emblem of the Ethiopian National
Defense Force
Flag of the Ethiopian National
Defense Force
Current form 1996
Service
branches
Ethiopian
Ground Forces
Ethiopian Air
Force
Ethiopian Navy
Headquarters Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia
Leadership
Commander-
in-Chief
President Sahle-
Work Zewde
(ceremonial)
Prime Minister Abiy
Ahmed
Ethiopian National Defense Force
The Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) (Amharic:
የኢፌዲሪ መከላከያ ሠራዊት, romanized: Ye’īfēdērī mekelakeya
šerawīt, lit. 'FDRE Defense Force') is the military force of
Ethiopia. Civilian control of the military is carried out through the
Ministry of Defense, which oversees the Ground Forces, Air
Force, Naval Force as well as the Defense Industry Sector.
History
Ethiopian Empire
Battle of Adwa
Preserving Ethiopian independence
Under Haile Selassie I
Korean War
Seizure of power by the Derg 1974 and aftermath
1990-91 Order of Battle
From 1991
The Ethiopia-Eritrea war
Ogaden
Somalia
Tigray War
Size and strength
Peacekeeping
Defence Day
See also
References
Citations
Bibliography
Further reading
External links
The Ethiopian army's origins and military traditions date back to
the earliest history of Ethiopia. Due to Ethiopia's location between
the Middle East and Africa, it has long been in the middle of
Eastern and Western politics and has been subject to foreign
Contents
History

2. Minister of
Defense
Abraham Belay
Chief of
General Staff
Field marshal
general Birhanu
Jula
Deputy Chief
of General
Staff
General Abebaw
Tadesse
Personnel
Military age 18 years old
Active
personnel
162,000 (2021)[1]
Reserve
personnel
Unknown
Expenditures
Budget $1.8 billion (2020)[2]
Percent of
GDP
0.6% (2023 est.)[2]
Industry
Domestic
suppliers
Defense Industry
Sector
Foreign
suppliers
Turkey[3]
Russia[4]
Iran[5]
Related articles
History See list
Ethiopian–Adal
war
Ottoman
conquest of
Habesh
Battle of
Wadkaltabu
Battle of
Dabarki
British
Expedition to
Abyssinia
Ethiopian–
Egyptian War
Mahdist War
invasion and aggression. In 1579, the Ottoman Empire's attempt to
expand from a coastal base at Massawa during the Ottoman
conquest of Habesh was defeated.[6] The Army of the Ethiopian
Empire was also able to defeat the Egyptians in 1876 at Gura, led
by Ethiopian Emperor Yohannes IV.[7] Clapham wrote in the
1980s that the "Abyssinians [had suffered] from a 'superiority
complex' which may be traced to Gundet, Gura and Adwa".[8]
Following the order of the emperor of Ethiopia, Nikolay Leontiev
directly organized the first battalion of the regular Ethiopian army
in February 1899. Leontiev formed the first regular battalion, the
kernel of which became the company of volunteers from the
former Senegal shooters, which he chose and invited from Western
Africa, with the training of the Russian and French officers. The
first Ethiopian military band was organized at the same time.[9][10]
The Battle of Adwa is the best-known victory of Ethiopian forces
over foreign invaders. It maintained Ethiopia's existence as an
independent state. Fought on 1 March 1896 against the Kingdom
of Italy near the town of Adwa, it was the decisive battle of the
First Italo–Ethiopian War. Assisted by all of the major nobles of
Ethiopia, including Tekle Haymanot of Gojjam, Ras Makonnen,
Ras Mengesha Yohannes, Mikael of Wollo, and Menelik II struck
a powerful blow against the Italian army.
The Ethiopian army had been able to execute the strategic plan of
Menelik's headquarters, despite a feudal system of organization
and adverse circumstances. A special role was played by the
Russian military advisers and the volunteers of Leontiev's
mission.[11][12][13]
Secondly, the Ethiopian army was based on a feudal system of
organization, and as a result, nearly the entire army was a peasant
militia. Russian military experts advising Menelik II suggested
trying to achieve full battle collision with Italians, to neutralize the
superior firepower of their opponent and potentially nullify their
problems with arms, training, and organization, rather than
engaging in a campaign of harassment.[14] In the battle that ensued
wave upon wave of Menelik's warriors successfully attacked the
Italians.
During the Scramble for Africa, Ethiopia remained the only nation
that had not been colonized by European colonial powers, due in
part to their defeat of Italy in the First Italo-Ethiopian War.
Ethiopian Empire
Battle of Adwa
Preserving Ethiopian independence

3. Menelik's
Expansions
Italo-Ethiopian
War of 1887–
1889
First Italo-
Ethiopian War
Gugsa Wale's
rebellion
Second Italo-
Ethiopian War
World War II
Korean War
United Nations
Operation in the
Congo
Eritrean War of
Independence
1964 Ethiopian–
Somali Border
War
Ogaden War
1982 Ethiopian–
Somali Border
War
Ethiopian Civil
War
Eritrean–
Ethiopian War
Somalia War
(2006–2009)
2007–2008
Ethiopian
crackdown in
Ogaden
Oromo conflict
Tigray War
2022 al-
Shabaab
invasion of
Ethiopia
Ranks Military ranks of
Ethiopia
However, with Ethiopia surrounded by European colonies, the
necessity of ensuring that the Ethiopian army was well-maintained
became apparent to the Ethiopian government. The Ethiopian
government trained its troops to a very high degree, with Russian
military officer Alexander Bulatovich writing thus:
"Many consider the Ethiopian army to be
undisciplined. They think that it is not in any
condition to withstand a serious fight with a well-
organized European army, claiming that the recent
war with Italy doesn't prove anything. I will not begin
to guess the future and will say only this. Over the
course of four months, I watched this army closely. It
is unique in the world. And I can bear witness to the
fact that it is not quite so chaotic as it seems at first
glance, and that on the contrary, it is profoundly
disciplined, though in its own unique way. For every
Abyssinian, war is normal business, and military skills
and rules of army life in the field enter in the flesh and
blood of each of them, just as do the main principles
of tactics. On the march, each soldier knows how to
arrange necessary comforts for himself and to
conserve his strength; but on the other hand, when
necessary, he shows such endurance and is capable of
action in conditions which are difficult even to
imagine.
You see remarkable expediency in all the actions and
skills of this army, and each soldier has an amazingly
intelligent attitude toward managing the mission of the
battle.
Despite such qualities, because of its impetuousness, it
is much more difficult to control this army than a well-
drilled European army, and I can only marvel at and
admire the skill of its leaders and chiefs, of which
there is no shortage."[14]
In obedience to the agreement with Russia and the order of
Menelik II, First Ethiopian officers began to be trained at the First
Russian cadet school in 1901. 30 to 40 Ethiopian officers were
trained in Russia from 1901 until 1913.
Modernization of the army took place under the regency of Tafari
Mekonnen, who later reigned as Emperor Haile Selassie I. He
created an Imperial Bodyguard, the Kebur Zabagna, in 1917 from
the earlier Mahal Safari who had traditionally attended the
Ethiopian Emperor. Its elite was trained at the French military
Under Haile Selassie I

4. Ethiopian troops transporting
supplies by camel through vegetation
during the East African Campaign.
Ethiopian soldiers in the Korean
War, 1951
academy at Saint-Cyr or by Belgian military advisers. He also
created his own military school at Holeta in January 1935.[15]
Ethiopian military aviation efforts were initiated in 1929 when
Tafari Mekonnen hired two French pilots and purchased four
French biplanes.[16] By the time of the Italian invasion of 1935, the
air force had four pilots and thirteen aircraft.
However, these efforts were not sufficient nor instituted in enough
time to stop the rising tide of Italian fascism. Ethiopia was invaded
and occupied by Italy during the Italian invasion of Ethiopia of
1935–36, marked for Ethiopia's first time being occupied by a
foreign power. Ethiopia's patriots managed to resist and defeat the
fascist Italian force after the 1941 East African Campaign of World
War II with the help of British, South African and Nigerian forces.
This made Ethiopia the only country in Africa that has never been colonized. After the Italians had been
driven from the country, a British Military Mission to Ethiopia (BMME), under Major General Stephen
Butler, was established to reorganize the Ethiopian Army.[17] The Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement of 1944
removed the BMME from the jurisdiction of East Africa Command at Nairobi and made it responsible to
the Ethiopian Minister of War.[18]
Ethiopia bought twenty AH-IV tankettes from Czechoslovakia in the late 1940s. They were based on the
Romanian R-1 variant and arrived in Djibouti on 9 May 1950 after which they were carried by rail to
Addis Ababa. They were used until the 1980s when they participated in the fighting against Somalia.[19]
In keeping with the principle of collective security, for which Haile
Selassie was an outspoken proponent, Ethiopia sent a contingent under
General Mulugeta Buli, known as the Kagnew Battalion, to take part
in the Korean War. It was attached to the American 7th Infantry
Division, and fought in several engagements including the Battle of
Pork Chop Hill.[20] 3,518 Ethiopian troops served in the war, of which
121 were killed and 536 wounded.[21]
On May 22, 1953, a U.S.-Ethiopian Mutual Defense Assistance
Agreement was signed. A U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group
was dispatched to Ethiopia and began its work by reorganizing the
army into three divisions. On 25 September 1953, Selassie created the
Imperial Ministry of National Defense that unified the Army, Air
Force, and Navy.[22] By 1956, the First Division had its headquarters
at Addis Ababa (First, Second, Third Brigades, 5,300 strong); the Second Division was headquartered at
Asmara, with the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Twelfth Brigades (4,500 strong); and Third Division
Harar (with the Fourth, Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Brigades, 6,890 strong) respectively.[23] The three
divisions had a total of 16,832 troops. In May 1959, the Emperor established the Imperial Territorial Army
as a reserve force that provided military training to civil servants.
In 1960 the U.S. Army Area Handbook for Ethiopia described the very personalized command
arrangements then used by the Emperor:[24]
Korean War

5. The Emperor is by constitutional provision Commander-in-Chief, and to him are reserved all
rights respecting the size of the forces and their organization and command, together with the
power to appoint, promote, transfer and dismiss military officers. He seeks the advice and
consent of Parliament in declaring war. Traditionally, he assumes personal command of the
forces in time of war.'
The Office of the Chief of Staff of the Imperial Ethiopian Armed Forces directed the Commanders of the
Army, Air Force, and Navy, and the three army divisions were directly responsible to the Commander of
the Army.[25] The three divisions seemingly included the Third Division in the Ogaden, seen as a hardship
post.[26] While technically the Imperial Bodyguard (Kebur Zabagna) was responsible to the Army
Commander, in reality, its commander received his orders directly from the Emperor.
Balambaras Abebe Aregai was one of the noted patriotic resistance leaders of Shoa (central Ethiopia) that
rose to preeminence in the post-liberation period.[27] He became Ras, a general and minister of defense of
the Imperial Ethiopian Armed Forces until his death in the 1960 Ethiopian coup attempt.
Ethiopia contributed troops for the United Nations operation in the Congo – the United Nations Operation
in the Congo - from July 1960. By 20 July 1960, 3,500 troops for ONUC had arrived in the Congo.[28]
The 3,500 consisted of 460 troops from Ethiopia (later to grow into the Tekil Brigade)[29] as well as troops
from Ghana, Morocco and Tunisia. Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie raised some 3,000 Imperial
Bodyguard personnel- about 10 percent of the Ethiopian army's entire strength at that time-and made it part
of the UN peacekeeping force in the Congo, along with an air force squadron.[30] This volunteer battalion
from the Imperial Bodyguard were authorized by the Emperor. The Tekil (or “Tekel”) Brigade was
stationed in Stanleyville.
Aman Mikael Andom commanded the Third Division during the 1964 Ethiopian–Somali Border War. He
later became chief of staff of the Armed Forces in July 1974, and then Minister of Defense.[31] He then
became chairman of the Derg from September to December 1974.
Emperor Haile Selassie divided the Ethiopian military into separate commands. The US Army Handbook
for Ethiopia notes that each service was provided with training and equipped from different foreign
countries "to assure reliability and retention of power."[32] The military consisted of the following: Imperial
Bodyguard (also known as the "First Division", 8,000 men); three army divisions; services which included
the Airborne, Engineers, and Signal Corps; the Territorial Army (5,000 men); and the police (28,000
men).[32]
Among reported U.S. equipment deliveries to Ethiopia were 120 M59 and 39 M75 armored personnel
carriers.
The Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army, or the Derg (Amharic
"Committee"), was officially announced 28 June 1974 by a group of military officers to maintain law and
order due to the powerlessness of the civilian government following widespread mutiny in the armed forces
of Ethiopia earlier that year. Its members were not directly involved in those mutinies, nor was this the first
military committee organized to support the administration of Prime Minister Endelkachew Makonnen:
Alem Zewde Tessema had established the Armed Forces Coordinated Committee on 23 March. However,
over the following month's radicals in the Ethiopian military came to believe he was acting on behalf of the
hated aristocracy, and when a group of notables petitioned for the release of several government ministers
and officials who were under arrest for corruption and other crimes, three days later the Derg was
announced.[33]
Seizure of power by the Derg 1974 and aftermath

6. The Derg, which originally consisted of soldiers at the capital, broadened its membership by including
representatives from the 40 units of the Ethiopian Army, Air Force, Navy, Kebur Zabagna (Imperial
Guard), Territorial Army and Police: each unit was expected to send three representatives, who were
supposed to be privates, NCOs, and junior officers up to the rank of major. According to Bahru Zewde,
"senior officers were deemed too compromised by close association to the regime."[34]
The committee elected Major Mengistu Haile Mariam as its chairman and Major Atnafu Abate as its vice-
chairman. The Derg was initially supposed to study various military units' grievances, investigate abuses by
senior officers and staff, and root out corruption in the military. In the months following its founding, the
power of the Derg steadily increased. In July 1974 the Derg obtained key concessions from the Emperor,
Haile Selassie, which included the power to arrest not only military officers but government officials at
every level. Soon both former Prime Ministers Tsehafi Taezaz Aklilu Habte-Wold, and Endelkachew
Makonnen, along with most of their cabinets, most regional governors, many senior military officers, and
officials of the Imperial court found themselves imprisoned.
When the Derg gained control of Ethiopia, they lessened their reliance on the West. Instead, they began to
draw their equipment and their sources for organizational and training methods from the Soviet Union and
other Comecon countries, especially Cuba. During this period, Ethiopian forces were often locked in
counter-insurgency campaigns against various guerrilla groups. They honed both conventional and guerrilla
tactics during campaigns in Eritrea, and by repelling an invasion launched by Somalia in the 1977–1978
Ogaden War.[35]
The Ethiopian army grew considerably under the Derg (1974–1987), and the People's Democratic
Republic of Ethiopia under Mengistu (1987–1991), especially during the latter regime. The Library of
Congress estimated forces underarms in 1974 at 41,000.[36] By July 1975 the International Institute for
Strategic Studies was listing a mechanised division in addition to three infantry divisions.[37] Ayele writes
that in November 1975, the "Nabalbal" ("Flame") force was created, subdivided into battalion-sized units
of 400. Each battalion-sized unit was known as a hayl (force), and 20 were created within sixteen
months.[38] The "Nabalbal" units entered combat in 1977. When Ethiopian intelligence sources discovered
Somali planning to seize the Ogaden, militia brigades were also created; first 30, then a total of 61 brigades
totaling 143,350 by 1977–78.[39] It appears that there were five regular line divisions active by the time of
the 1977 Ogaden War, and the Library of Congress estimated the force size at the time as 53,500. With
significant Soviet assistance, after that point the army's size grew rapidly; in 1979 it was estimated at
65,000.[36] The 18th and 19th Mountain Infantry Divisions were then established in 1979-80 originally to
seize Nakfa, in the Sahel Mountains, one of the remaining strongholds of the Eritrean insurgents.[40] By the
beginning of 1981 recruitment for the 21st and 22nd Mountain Infantry Divisions was underway; soon
afterward, preparations for the large Operation Red Star were stepping up.[41]
In April 1988 the Derg reorganized the army. The restoration of relations with Somalia meant that forces
could be transferred from the First Revolutionary Army in the Ogaden, to the Second and Third
Revolutionary Armies, the Third (TRA) being responsible for the provinces of Assab, Tigray, Wello,
Gondar, and Gojjam. The very small Fourth Revolutionary Army became responsible for protecting the
border with Kenya and those with Somalia and Sudan. In the place of the previous commands, thirteen
corps were established instead, distributed amongst the army headquarters. Intensive efforts were made to
enlist additional personnel. Total manpower after the reorganization reached a reported 388,000.[42]
In May 1988 the Derg decided that before it could concentrate on destroying the EPLF, it would have to
first eliminate the TPLF.[43] Thus Operation Adwa was devised to seize the main TPLF base at Adi
Ramets in Gondar Province. The Third Revolutionary Army's 603rd and 604th Corps were to play the
main role, while the 605th Corps secured the rear, in Wello. The TRA's command structure was disrupted
when Major General Mulatu Negash, the army commander, was supplanted by the arrival of Mengistu's
favorite, Captain Lagesse Asfaw.

7. Ethiopian T-62 tanks at the end of the Ethiopian
Civil War.
Cuba provided a significant influx of military advisors and troops over this period, with the largest
escalation during the Ogaden War with Somalia, supported by a Soviet airlift:[44]
1977–1978: 17,000 (Ogaden War)
1978: 12,000
1984: 3,000
1989: All forces withdrawn
Gebru Tareke listed Ethiopian ground forces in 1990 as comprising four revolutionary armies organized as
task forces, eleven corps, twenty-four infantry divisions, and four mountain divisions, reinforced by five
mechanized divisions, two airborne divisions, and ninety-five brigades, including four mechanized
brigades, three artillery brigades, four tank brigades, twelve special commandos and para commandos
brigades – including the Spartakiad, which became operational in 1987 under the preparation and guidance
of North Koreans – seven BM-rocket battalions, and ten brigades of paramilitary forces.[45]
Forces underarms were estimated at 230,000 in early 1991.[36] Mengistu's People's Militia had also grown
to about 200,000 members. The mechanized forces of the army comprised 1,200 T-54/55, 100 T-62 tanks,
and 1,100 armored personnel carriers (APCs), but readiness was estimated to be only about 30 percent
operational, because of the withdrawal of financial support, lack of maintenance expertise and parts from
the Soviet Union, Cuba, and other nations.[46]
The army commands consisted of the:
First Revolutionary Army (headquartered at
Harar, 1988: 601st and 602nd Corps[47])
Second Revolutionary Army (headquartered
at Asmera, 1988: 606th-610th Corps)
Third Revolutionary Army (headquartered at
Kombolcha, 1988: 603rd, 604th, 605th
Corps)
Fourth Revolutionary Army (headquartered at
Nekemte, 1988: 611th, 612th, 614th Corps)
Fifth Revolutionary Army (headquartered at
Gondar)[48]
To these armies were assigned the operational forces
of the army, comprising:
31 infantry divisions.[36] The 30th and 31st Infantry Divisions were the last formed, circa
November–December 1989.[47] There were also the 102nd Airborne Division and 103rd
Commando Divisions, which began training in January 1987.[49]
32 tank battalions
40 artillery battalions
12 air defense battalions
8 commando brigades
Ethiopian soldiers have also committed many atrocities in the region of Tigray. They have used food and
rape as weapons of war.
1990-91 Order of Battle

8. Soldier of Ethiopian National Defense
Force, 2006.
In 1991 Mengistu's government was overcome by the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front
(EPRDF), People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ, former EPLF), Oromo Liberation Front
(OLF) and other opposition factions. After the defeat of the military government, the provisional
government disbanded the former national army and relied on its own guerrilla fighters.[50] In 1993,
however, the Tigrayan-led government announced plans to create a multi-ethnic defense force. This process
entailed the creation of a new professional army and officer class and the demobilization of many of the
irregulars who had fought against the military government. With the collapse of the Soviet Union Ethiopia
again turned to the Western powers for alliance and assistance. However, many Tigrayan officers remained
in command positions. This transformation was still underway when war with Eritrea broke out in 1998, a
development that saw the ranks of the armed forces swell along with defense expenditures.
Although the armed forces have significant battlefield experience, their militia orientation has complicated
the transition to a structured, integrated military.[50] Ranks and conventional units were only adopted in
1996. A United States-assisted effort to restructure the armed forces was interrupted by mobilization for the
war with Eritrea.
The former allies EPRDF and PFDJ (former EPLF) led their
countries Ethiopia and Eritrea, respectively, into the Eritrean-
Ethiopian War of 1998. The war was fought over the disputed
region of Badme. During the course of the war, some
commanders and pilots from the former army and air force
were recalled to duty. These officers helped turn the tide
decisively against Eritrea in 2000. Following the war's end, the
Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission, a body founded by
the UN, established that the Badme region had in fact
belonged to Eritrea.[51] Although the two countries are now at
peace, Ethiopia rejected the results of the international court's
decision, and continued to occupy Badme. Most observers
agree that Ethiopia's rejection of international law, coupled
with the high numbers of soldiers maintained on the border by each side – a debilitatingly high number,
particularly for the Eritrean side – means that the two countries are effectively still in conflict.
After the September 11 attacks in 2001, the Ethiopian army began to train with the U.S. Combined Joint
Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) established in Djibouti. Ethiopia allowed the US to station
military advisors at Camp Hurso.[52] Part of the training at Camp Hurso has included U.S. Army elements,
including 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry, training the 12th, 13th and 14th Division Reconnaissance
Companies, which from July 2003 were being formed into a new Ethiopian anti-terrorism battalion.[53]
Government forces have been engaged in a battle against Ogaden insurgents led by the Ogaden National
Liberation Front.
Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia in 2006 on the pretext of security concerns over Ogaden.
From 1991
The Ethiopia-Eritrea war
Ogaden
Somalia

9. A destroyed ENDF armored vehicle
lays in one of the main streets of
Hawzen on 6 June 2021
In December 2006, the ENDF entered Somalia to confront the Islamic Courts Union, initially winning the
Battle of Baidoa. This led to the seizure of Mogadishu by Ethiopian troops and TFG militias and
subsequent heavy fighting there. After the Islamists split into two groups, moderate Islamists led by Sharif
Sheikh Ahmed signed a UN backed peace deal with the TFG and established a larger government in
Mogadishu. Ethiopian troops withdrew as part of the terms of the peace deal. Gabre Heard commanded the
forces in Somalia.
The force of about 3,000 Ethiopian troops faced war crimes allegations by rights groups.[54] The
Transitional Federal Government who invited them were also accused of human rights abuses and war
crimes including murder, rape, assault, and looting by human rights groups[55]
In their December 2008 report 'So much to Fear' Human Rights Watch warned that since the Ethiopians
had intervened in 2006 Somalia was facing a humanitarian catastrophe on a scale not witnessed since the
early 1990s. They went on to accuse the TFG of terrorizing the citizens of Mogadishu and the Ethiopian
soldiers for increasing violent criminality.[55]
Analysts suggested that the move was primarily motivated by financial considerations, with the Ethiopian
forces' operational costs now slated to be under AMISOM's allowance budget. It is believed that the
Ethiopian military's long experience in Somali territory, its equipment such as helicopters, and the potential
for closer coordination will help the allied forces advance their territorial gains.[56] As of 2014, the
Ethiopian troops in Somalia have been integrated into the AMISOM peacekeeping force. According to
Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ambassador Dina Mufti, the Ethiopian military's
decision to join AMISOM is intended to render the peacekeeping operation more secure.[57]
On 8 November 2020, ENDF troops backed by militias from the
Amhara and the Eritrean Defence Forces regions were deployed to
the Tigray Region in response to a coordinated 'preemptive strike'
by TPLF against the Northern Command of ENDF. Since the
beginning of the conflict, ENDF personnel has been accused of
involvement in alleged war crimes against civilians in the Tigray
Region. These mere accusations include rape and other gender
based violence, as well as extrajudicial killings in Hagere Selam,
Hitsats, Humera, Debre Abbay, and other areas where the conflict
is ongoing.[58][59] The prime minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed,
has publicly acknowledged the possibility of war crimes taking
place within the Tigray Region. Abiy did not however link these
actions to the Ethiopian military, and instead cited such reports were likely "propaganda of exaggeration"
by the Tigray People's Liberation Front, currently opposing federal forces in the northern region.[60]
The Italian weekly magazine Panorama published a graphic video in which Amharic-speaking ENDF
soldiers killed a group of 9 people in Humera in August 2021 and then put their bodies on fire. The video
also shows torturing of one man by soldiers, then tying him up, preparing to throw him in the river.[61]
The size of the ENDF has fluctuated significantly since the end of the Ethiopia-Eritrea war in 2000. In
2002 the Ethiopian Defense Forces had a strength of approximately 250,000-350,000 troops.[62] This was
roughly the same number maintained during the Derg regime that fell to the rebel forces in 1991. However,
Tigray War
Size and strength

10. Defence Day 2019
that number was later reduced, and in January 2007, during the War in Somalia, Ethiopian forces were said
to comprise about 300,000 troops.[63] In 2012, the IISS estimated that the ground forces had 135,000
personnel and the air force 3,000.[64]
As of 2012, the ENDF consists of two separate branches: the Ground Forces and the Ethiopian Air
Force.[64] Ethiopia has several defense industrial organizations that produce and overhaul different
weapons systems. Most of these were built under the Derg regime which planned a large military industrial
complex. The ENDF relies on voluntary military service of people above 18 years of age. Although there is
no compulsory military service, armed forces may conduct call-ups when necessary and compliance is
compulsory.[65]
Modern day Ethiopia, being a landlocked country, has no active navy. Ethiopia reacquired a coastline on
the Red Sea in 1950 and created the Ethiopian Navy in 1955. Eritrean independence in 1991 left Ethiopia
landlocked again, but the Ethiopian Navy continued to operate from foreign ports until it finally was
disbanded in 1996.
Ethiopia has served in various United Nations and African Union peacekeeping missions. These have
included Ivory Coast,[66][67] on the Burundi border,[66][68] and in Rwanda.
Two major previous Ethiopian missions were in Liberia and Darfur. The United Nations Mission in Liberia
(UNMIL) was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1509, of 19 September 2003, to
support the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and the peace process, protect United Nations staff,
facilities and civilians, support humanitarian and human rights activities; as well as assist in national security
reform, including national police training and formation of a new, restructured military.[69] In November
2007, nearly 1,800 Ethiopian troops serving with the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) were
presented with UN Peacekeeping medals for their "invaluable contribution to the peace process."[70] Up to
three Ethiopian battalions used to constitute Sector 4 of the UN Mission, covering the southern part of the
country. The mission ended in 2018.
Many thousands of Ethiopian peacekeepers were also involved in the hybrid United Nations–African
Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) in western Sudan. The Security Council authorized a force of about
26,000 uniformed personnel.[71] The Darfur mission was shut down in 2020–21.
Ethiopia also provides the entire force for the UN's Abyei mission, the United Nations Interim Security
Force for Abyei. An Ethiopian officer commands the force.
National Defence Day is celebrated annually on 14 February, and
serves as the holiday of the ENDF. It was first celebrated for the
first time in 2013. It is celebrated for four days.[72] It celebrates the
establishment, on 14 February 1996, of the military.[73]
African military systems after 1900
DAVEC
Ethiopian Air Force
Peacekeeping
Defence Day
See also

11. Ethiopian Navy
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. Ethiopia: A Country Study
(http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gdc/cntrystd.et). Federal Research Division.
1. "2021 Ethiopia Military Strength" (https://www.globalfirepower.com/country-military-strength-
detail.php?country_id=ethiopia).
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Further reading
External links

16. This article incorporates public domain material (https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/about/copyrigh
t-and-contributors/) from the CIA document: "World Factbook" (https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/).
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