Following the Eritrean People's Liberation Front's (EPLF) victory at the Battle of Afabet, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) quickly succeeded in overrunning many garrisons in Tigray, such as Shire Inda Selassie, Axum, Adwa, Adigrat, Wukro, and Maychew.

In June 1988, the Ethiopian Third Revolutionary Army (TRA) led by General Mulatu Negash, launched an offensive titled "Operation Adwa" to clear the Tigray region of TPLF guerrillas.

[1] After Operation Adwa, the TPLF positioned itself along key junctions in along the routes to Shire and resumed its hit and run tactics of harassing military convoys.

Despite the plan for a joint operation after the divisions converged at Chella, a significant gap allowed insurgents to launch separate attacks.

Isolated and attacked by insurgents, the brigade suffered heavy losses, with only about 450 out of approximately 1,200 troops returning to Shire.

The division commander narrowly escaped a hand grenade attack, marking the ultimate failure of Operation Aksum II.

At 0:200 hours on February 18, 1989, guerrillas initiated a close-in offensive against the 604th Corps, attacking from the south, north, and northeast.

The primary assault originated from Addi Kokab, Enda Giorgis (north), and Mount Qoyaşa (northeast of Shire).

[5] The battle was finally lost when the TPLF took control of the strategic hill of Enda Kantiba on the southern outskirts of the town.

The fall of the town turned out to be a decisive victory for the TPLF and the second largest blow to the government after the Afabet disaster.

Mengistu Haile Mariam was said to have been "shocked and bewildered" after hearing about the disaster in Shire, in a speech to the National Shengo he declared: "A huge army has fallen, scattered, surrendered, within days and hours in a manner that is beyond belief.