2013 Eritrean Army mutiny

Date	21 January 2013
Location	Asmara, Eritrea
Result	Coup d'état attempt failed, demands rejected, Eritrean government victory

Belligerents

Eritrean Army rebels

Eritrean Government
Eritrean Defence Forces

Commanders and leaders

Isaias Afwerki
Ahmed Umer Kakay

Eritrean Government
Eritrean Defence Forces

The 2013 Eritrean Army mutiny was mounted on 21 January 2013, when around 100-200 soldiers of the Eritrean Army in the capital city, Asmara seized the headquarters of the state broadcaster, EriTV, and allegedly broadcast a message demanding reforms and the release of political prisoners. The mutiny was the first major incident of resistance to the rule of Isaias Afewerki since the purging of a group of fifteen ministers who demanded political reform in 2001. Details about the mutiny remain murky, with several (but not all) government officials denying it even took place, while opposition sources claimed it had been an abortive coup attempt.

Eritrea has been ruled by Isaias Afewerki since its independence in 1993 from Ethiopia, following a 30-year independence war. Initially allied with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and his Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, whom Isaias' Eritrean People's Liberation Front had helped overthrow the communist regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam, border disputes caused relations between the two nations to rapidly turn sour, and in May 1998, Eritrea invaded Ethiopia.The resultant conflict killed between 70,000-100,000 on both sides, and left Eritrea with over a third of its territory occupied and over 650,000 people displaced. Although Eritrea was awarded most of the disputed territory by the Permanent Court of Arbitration, Ethiopia, as of 2013, still occupies most of the disputed land.

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