Shiraro, Ethiopia

Shiraro
Shiraro Location within Ethiopia
Coordinates: 14°23′45″N 37°46′23″E / 14.39583°N 37.77306°ECoordinates: 14°23′45″N 37°46′23″E / 14.39583°N 37.77306°E
Country	Ethiopia
Region	Tigray
Zone	Semien Mi'irabawi (North Western)
Elevation	1,246 m (4,088 ft)
Population (2007)
• Total	17,045
Time zone	EAT (UTC+3)

Shiraro is a town and separate woreda in northern Ethiopia. It is located in the Semien Mi'irabawi Zone of the Tigray Region, at an elevation of 1246 meters above sea level. It is the administrative center of Tahtay Adiyabo.

Between January 1995 and June 1998, SUR Construction built two road segments connecting Shiraro with Shire to the east and Humera to the west, totalling in length 139.5 kilometers.^[1]

History

Along with Zana, Shiraro was an early hotbed of Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF) support. According to Gebru Tareke, the TPLF made Shiraro its base between 1979-1980, not only creating a support infrastructure there but also cultivating the land to grow cereals such as corn and sorghum, and cash crops like sesame. Eventually the Derg, the ruling military junta of Ethiopia, directed a military campaign to crush the TPLF at its base. On 12 February 1980, they launched Operation Shiraro, in which four brigades of 4,000 men under the command of Colonel Tariku Ayne advanced first to the TPLF base on the Sur River, which they destroyed then on 25 February departed for Shiraro, which they found deserted and the TPLF positioned on the heights. On the next day, although without intelligence about their opponents, the Derg soldiers advanced into an open field -- where the TPLF ambushed them. After four hours of fierce fighting, the four brigades of the defenders dissolved and the men retreated in disarray. Their casualties were 117 dead (including three battalion and three company commanders) and 292 wounded (including 11 officers).^[2]

When the Derg evacuated the town for the last time in 1985, allegedly the soldiers left land mines and hidden bombs which injured some people who had returned from hiding in the countryside.^[3] Shiraro was subjected to an aerial attack by Derg aircraft 12 December 1988, which killed 8 people.^[4]

Shiraro experienced shelling on 21 October 1998, during the Eritrean-Ethiopian War. Its inhabitants and refugees from the surrounding area who had sought safety in the town, fled to a camp near Zeban Gedena, about 15 kilometers to the southeast.^[5]

Demographics

Based on the 2007 national census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this town has a total population of 17,045, of whom 8,163 are men and 8,882 women. The majority of the inhabitants said they practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 93.2% reporting that as their religion, while 6.54% of the population were Muslim.^[6]

According to the 1994 national census, its total population was 8,415 of whom 3,881 were men and 4,534 were women. An observer wrote in 1999 that because Shiraro is located "close to the traditional Kunama homelands, long-term Tigrayan oppression of the Kunama people is a hot topic. The Front is trying to persuade the population that if they are justified in fighting for freedom from Amhara domination, then they should be critical of their own history of discrimination against the Kunama."^[3]

References

1. "SUR Construction PLC - Major Projects", SUR Construction webpage (accessed 6 May 2010
2. Gebru Tareke, The Ethiopian Revolution: War in the Horn of Africa (New Haven: Yale University, 2009), pp. 89, 94f
3. "Local History in Ethiopia" The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 12 December 2007)
4. Africa Watch Report, Ethiopia: "Mengistu has Decided to Burn Us like Wood": Bombing of Civilians and Civilian Targets by the Air Force, 24 July 1990
5. EUE: Tigray Evacuees, 12/98
6. Census 2007 Tables: Tigray Region, Tables 2.1, 2.4, 2.5 and 3.4.