Fenkil at 36: Victory, Memory, and the Wounds That Still Speak

by @Dahlakib

February is a sacred month in Eritrean history. It marks the commemoration of Operation Fenkil, the bold and decisive liberation of Massawa in 1990. In just days, Eritrean fighters carried out one of the most daring operations of the armed struggle, dismantling one of the strongest military garrisons of the Derg regime. It was a turning point. It proved that discipline, strategy, and conviction could overcome superior weaponry.

But Fenkil is not merely remembered for military success. It is commemorated with reflection.
About a month and a half after the liberation of Massawa, the Derg regime under Mengistu Hailemariam launched a devastating aerial bombing campaign against the city. What could not be reclaimed on the battlefield was attacked from the sky. Fighter jets dropped high-explosive bombs, napalm, and cluster munitions on a city filled with civilians. Residential neighborhoods and port facilities were struck repeatedly over weeks.The intent was clear: retaliation. A regime in decline, losing ground militarily and politically isolated, chose to punish a population it could no longer control.

The human cost was severe. Civilians were killed. Homes were flattened. Infrastructure was shattered. Survivors carry memories that words still struggle to contain the sound of aircraft overhead, the sudden eruption of fire, the uncertainty of whether the next strike would land on one’s own roof.

In recent years, many Ethiopians, intentionally or unintentionally, have circulated images of destroyed buildings in Massawa to criticize the lack of reconstruction, often without acknowledging their origin. Those damaged structures are not simply abandoned buildings. They are scars from that dark period of bombing in 1990. They stand as silent witnesses to devastation that reshaped lives forever.

Those walls carry memory. They carry pain. For many Eritreans, they are not political talking points; they are reminders of trauma endured. Whether preserved, restored, or left standing, their history cannot be erased or reframed.

And yet, Eritreans did not choose vengeance as their legacy.

The response was not revenge, but endurance. Not endless retaliation, but rebuilding. Massawa rose again. Families mourned, buried their dead, and continued forward. The same people who endured bombardment would later contribute to reconstructing a nation from ruins.

As we commemorate Fenkil at 36 years, we hold two truths together: triumph and tragedy. We honor the courage of those who liberated Massawa, and we remember the civilians who suffered in its aftermath. One does not cancel the other. They are intertwined chapters of the same history.

Remembering the bombing of Massawa is not about reopening wounds. It is about honoring truth. It is about acknowledging that victory came at a cost and that the resilience of a people is measured not only by how they fight, but by how they heal.

Fenkil36 is therefore a commemoration. It is remembrance. It is reflection. It is a reaffirmation that the suffering endured will stay in memory for generations to come, not as a call for retaliation, but as a solemn reminder of a dark time in 1990 that must never be forgotten.

For those who wish to understand the depth of that period, please watch the attached documentary clip and reflect on the lived experiences of the people of Massawa.
Never forgotten.

Click the above image to watch YouTube Video

“Eritrea – ቅብጸት Qbtset Massawa 1990 War Documentary“