In 1991 EPLF troops defeated Ethiopian troops in Eritrea.  The EPLF then created a provisional government of Eritrea.  In a 1993 Eritrean referendum, the Eritrean people voted for the creation of a fully independent Eritrea.  The current president of Eritrea was once a member of the Eritrean Liberation Front.  Eritrean president Isaias Afewerki joined the ELF in 1966.  In 1970 he co-founded the Eritrean People's Liberation Forces.

Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) -- Competing Faction

The Marxist People's Front for Democracy and Justice remains the only legal political party in Eritrea. The new Eritrean government has drafted a constitution but it has yet to be ratified. Parliamentary and presidential elections have been postponed indefinitely.  As a terrorist group, the former Eritrean People's Liberation Front is inactive.

Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) -- Rival

The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Army (EPRA) was the armed wing of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party (EPRP).  The EPRP was formed in 1972, initially as an anti-monarchy group, calling itself the "first political party in the country."  Ethiopia's political scene changed fundamentally soon after this, with the overthrowing of Emperor Kaile Sellasie in 1974 and the rapid takeover of power by a military regime (the "Derg").  The EPRP, however, still remained on the outside of the Ethiopian political spectrum and was eventually banned by the Derg. The group was initially founded on leftist principles, although its current political and economic platforms have moderated and now advocate a democratic republic and a market economy.<br /><p> The group's armed wing, the EPRA, was formed in 1976 and was primarily active in the Tigray and Gondar regions, where it fought both the Ethiopian military and other opposition groups, primarily the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF).  Actions against the EPRP/EPRA by the Ethiopian government were deemed the "Red Terror."  The combined effects of this two-front war devastated the group nearly to the point of elimination, and it was forced to move its base of operations into Sudan by the mid-1980s.  The EPRA effectively ceased to exist as a military entity at this time.<br />