Definition:

The First Eritrean Civil War, which lasted from 1972 to 1974 was fought in Eritrea between members of the Muslim based Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) and its dissident members who disliked the ideology of the ELF leadership and who split off to form the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF). The EPLF was a group of mainly Tigraian Christians led by the leftist nationalist leader Isaias Afwerki.