Dansha is a town in

Tigray, Ethiopia The Tigray Region, officially the Tigray National Regional State, is the northernmost Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob people, Irob, and Kunama people, Kunama people. Its ...

, located in the northwestern part of the country.

History

On July 7, 1988, during the

Ethiopian Civil War The Ethiopian Civil War was a civil war in Ethiopia and present-day Eritrea, fought between the Ethiopian military junta known as the Derg and Ethiopian-Eritrean anti-government rebels from 12 September 1974 to 28 May 1991. The Derg overthrew ...

, the Ethiopia government's Third Revolutionary Army's 604 Army Corps was ambushed by the

Tigray People's Liberation Front The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF; ti, ህዝባዊ ወያነ ሓርነት ትግራይ, lit=Popular Struggle for the Freedom of Tigray), also called the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, is a left-wing ethnic nationalist paramilita ...

(TPLF) as it was leaving its base at Dansha, resulting in around 3,000 government casualties. Dansha was part of Begemder Province until the

1987 Constitution of Ethiopia The Constitution of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (), also known as the 1987 Constitution of Ethiopia, was the third constitution of Ethiopia, and went into effect on 22 February 1987 after a referendum on 1 February of that year. ...

divided the country into regions on September 18, 1987, at which time Dansha became a part of North Gonder Region. When the current

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

were formed in 1992 after the Ethiopian Civil War, Dansha became part of the

Tigray Region The Tigray Region, officially the Tigray National Regional State, is the northernmost Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob people, Irob, and Kunama people, Kunama people. Its ...

. During the 4 November Northern Command Attacks, forces loyal to the

TPLF The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF; ti, ህዝባዊ ወያነ ሓርነት ትግራይ, lit=Popular Struggle for the Freedom of Tigray), also called the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, is a left-wing ethnic nationalist paramilita ...

attacked the Fifth Battalion of the Northern Command of the

Ethiopian National Defense Force The Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) ( am, የኢፌዲሪ መከላከያ ሠራዊት, Ye’īfēdērī mekelakeya šerawīt, lit=FDRE Defense Force) is the military force of Ethiopia. Civilian control of the military is carried out ...

in Dansha. This was one of the primary causes of the

Tigray war The Tigray War; ; . was an armed conflict that lasted from 3 November 2020 to 3 November 2022. The war was primarily fought in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia between the Government of Ethiopia, Ethiopian federal government and Eritrea on one s ...

. The clashes that ensued resulted in significant destruction to the town.

Transportation

Dansha is served by Dansha Airport, northwest of the town. Dansha is located on the main road between

Gondar Gondar, also spelled Gonder ( Amharic: ጎንደር, ''Gonder'' or ''Gondär''; formerly , ''Gʷandar'' or ''Gʷender''), is a city and woreda in Ethiopia. Located in the North Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, Gondar is north of Lake Tana on ...

and Humera.

References

Populated places in the Tigray Region {{Tigray-geo-stub