The Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) (Tigrinya: ሓይልታት ምክልኻል ኤርትራ قوات البحرية الارترية[pronunciation?])

Military history in Eritrea stretches back for thousands of years; from ancient times to present day, the society of the Eritreans have dealt with both war and peace.

During the kingdom of Medri Bahri, the military fought numerous battles against the invading forces of the Abyssinians to the south and the Ottoman Turks at the Red Sea.

The kingdom of Medri Bahri was dissolved and the Colony of Eritrea was founded by the Italians in 1890, shortly after the opening of the Suez Canal.

[5] Military-run prisons included the underground Track B (or Tract B) in the west of Asmara, holding 2,000 detainees; Adi Abeto near Asmara; Wi'a, 32 km south of Massawa, for holding military prisoners (escaped conscripts and draft evaders) and members of unauthorised religions; Mitire, in north-eastern Eritrea for religious prisoners; Haddis Ma'askar, mostly underground, near the Sawa military base; Ala Bazit in a desert next to the Ala mountains; and Mai Dima near Berakit Mountain for Kunama detainees.

[8] On 12 November 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control added the EDF to its to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list for being "a government entity that has engaged in, or whose members have engaged in, activities that have contributed to the crisis in northern Ethiopia or have obstructed a ceasefire or peace process to resolve such crisis".

[9][10] The EDF was led from 1991[citation needed] by Ogbe Abraha, until 2000, when he was dismissed for his participation in the G-15 group of ministers who called for political change in Eritrea.

Students, both male and female, are required to attend the Sawa Training Centre to complete the final year of their secondary education, which is integrated with their military service.

Soldiers are often used as supplemental manpower in the country's agricultural fields picking crops, though much of the harvested food is used to feed the military rather than the general population.

[citation needed] In 2012 the government created People's Militia (known natively as the "Hizbawi Serawit"), to provide additional military training to civilians and assist in development work.