Red Sea Afar Democratic Organisation

The Red Sea Afar Democratic Organisation (Afar: Qasa Badih Qafarih Dimokraasih Missoyna; Tigrinya: ዲሞክራሲያዊ ውድብ ዓፋር ቀይሕ ባሕሪ; Arabic: التنظيم الديمقراطي لعفر البحر الأحمر, transliteration: Al-tanzim Al-dimokrati Li-'afar Al-Bahr Al-Ahmar; abbreviated RSADO) is a political organisation and armed insurgent group based in Ethiopia. The organisation is made up of mainly ethnic Afar people, and was founded in early 1999 following a revolt by the Red Sea Afar people led by Ahmed Humed, after the UN-supervised Eritrean independence referendum was held in 1993. The primary goal of RSADO is to achieve autonomy for the region known as Dankalia, inhabited mainly by the Red Sea Afar.

Red Sea Afar Democratic Organisation
Leaders	Ibrahim Harun[1][2] Abdu Sheek (spokesperson Yasin Mohamed, Nasradin ALI)[3]
Dates of operation	1999 (1999)–present
Headquarters	Afar Region, Ethiopia
Active regions	Southern Red Sea Region, Eritrea
Ideology	Afar self-determination
Allies	State allies Ethiopia[4] Non-state allies DMLEK[5] SPDM[3]
Opponents	Eritrea
Battles and wars	Second Afar insurgency

After several years of dormancy, in July 2025 the RSADO renewed its armed struggle against the Eritrean government.^[6]

History

Following the independence of Eritrea in May 1991, indigenous Afar started to face unprecedented persecution by the totalitarian^[7] one-party government of the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice led by Isaias Afwerki.

This combined with dissatisfaction over the ruling PFDJ government led to a rebellion by the Red Sea Afar in southern Eritrea in 1999. The group used guerrilla war tactics and launched attacks in Eritrea. Though they posed great problems for the Eritrean government and army, it was also faced internal political conflicts.^[1]

After several years of dormancy, in July 2025 the RSADO renewed its armed struggle, holding a public conference in Semera in which it reaffirmed its commitment to armed conflict against the Eritrean government and accused Eritrea of oppression against the coastal Afar people.^[8] In October, after 3 months of training, the RSADO announced the graduation of a new unit of soldiers, with the commander Ibrahim Harun praising the unit. At the end of the announcement, the RSADO expressed “sincere gratitude” towards the Afar Region government and the Ethiopian people for their supposed support for the organisation.^[9]