Eritrean People's Liberation Front

The Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF), colloquially known as Shabia, was an Eritrean separatist Marxist–Leninist paramlitary organization that fought and successfully achieved the Independence of Eritrea and the creation of a new country on the Red Sea region from Ethiopian rule in 1991.

It emerged in 1973 during the final years of Emperor Haile Selassie's rule as a far-left to left-wing nationalist group that split from the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF). After the Ethiopian Revolution the following year, which brought the Derg regime to power, the EPLF and ELF continued their struggle for independence. By 1977 the EPLF overran the Ethiopian army in much of Eritrea. Following the Ogaden War, the Soviet Union began supporting the Derg against the Eritreans, which turned back their advance during the late 1970s.

Several major military offensives aimed at finally crushing the EPLF, such as Operation Red Star, failed repeatedly over the early and mid-1980s and emboldened the Eritrean resistance. During the Battle of Afabet in 1988 the EPLF dealt a crushing blow to the Ethiopian army in Eritrea and went on the offensive.

In alliance with the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the EPLF helped overthrow the Derg regime in May 1991. Following the 1993 independence referendum, the organization transformed into a political body in 1994, renaming itself the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), which remains the sole legal party in Eritrea.