ADDIS ABABA- Some patriots recounted that without any military training and deplorable logistics, they faced the more powerful European enemy that threatened to strip them of independence and they struggled, resisted and defeated.
Approached by the Ethiopian Press Agency (EPA), Lieutenant Colonel Rejal Umer Abadima stated that he was a regular patriot and participated in the Second ItaloEthiopian War and fought Italian invasion aggressively for the successive three years in the battlefield.
“We fought barefoot with Italian forces that were equipped with heavy artillery and finally we defeated them in a united manner.” Colonel Rejal noted that Emperor Menelik II mobilized all Ethiopians irrespective of sex, religion and ethnicity to fight enemy and successfully bankrupted the white supremacy rhetoric.
This generation should repeat their forefathers and mothers remarkable victory and see critically and fight the western interference and poverty now and onwards.
“Adwa means to me that many patriots sacrifice their life in the battlefield for the sake of protecting the nation from the aggressor and it is the symbol of victory for the black world.”
He is also one of the Ethiopian soldiers that deployed to South Korea during the Korean War in 1950’s and returned after the victory.
Patriot Alemnew Ayalew said for his part that he fought Fascist Italians when he was a kid and provided food for the fighters waiting for the equipment. “I participated during the second Italo-Ethiopian war of 1935-1941and experienced trouble during the Battle of Maychew.
The determination to remain independent and defend Ethiopia’s soil from foreign aggressor remained unrelenting in the following five years of occupation in that all Ethiopians regardless of ethnic, religious and gender differences waged intense resistance against Fascist forces. We paid enormous sacrifices while inflicting heavy casualties on invaders.
He recalled that the Italians committed atrocities on Ethiopian patriots’ and executed the civilian population indiscriminately.
Sharing the above, Addis Ababa City Youth and Sport Bureau Deputy Head Tibebu Bekele said the current generation should be inspired by the patriots’ victory over Italian forces and stand for peace, and move in unison to create a stable nation and record fast development.
“Adwa has untold stories, many great secret victories and that can transfer from generation to generation.” The 126th Anniversary of Adwa Victory will be observed under the theme “Ethiopian Union Called for African Independence.
The Victory Day is observed on March 2 annuallyto commemorate Ethiopian’s victory over Italian invading forces in the Battle of Adwa in 1896.
BY MISGANAW ASNAKE
The 3 March 2022
