[1] It is chiefly populated by the Bet Jengereen subtribe of the Tigre people and Beni Amir.

[2] The president of halhal is The town and surrounding area saw intense fighting during the Eritrean War of Independence.

[1] In 1968, the Ethiopian Army commando post there was attacked by Omer Ezaz of the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF); Ezaz and about 70 of his soldiers were killed.

[1] The town was later taken by the ELF, and was controlled by the ELF from 1970 to 1981, when as a result of the Second Eritrean Civil War, control passed to the Eritrean People's Liberation Front.

[1] From 1983 to Eritrean independence in 1991, the town was controlled by the Ethiopian Army, except for a brief period of EPLF control in the spring of 1988 following the Battle of Afabet.