On 13 August, 2009, around 4:00 PM, in the vicinity of Mai-Ata’l, an assassination attempt on the President of Eritrea, Isaias Afewerki,was conducted.
In this failed assassination attempt, the president was barely able to escape death. The man who tried to kill the president though, a former freedom fighter First Lieutenant Daniel Habte Yihdego, after an exchange of fire with the President’s security, was shot to death. He was 43 years old.
Daniel was born in 1966 in Asmara from his father Habte Yihdego and his mother Milite Bitsu-Amlak. When he reached school age, he attended “Amanuel” school. He joined EPLF in 1984. He has worked in his various capacity in different positions: first, as a teacher in Biet Timhrti Sewra; then as a fighter in the Western front; in Shelao, Gerger and Mensura, as a teacher; after 1990 in Kifle Serawit 85 as a soldier; after independence, in the Immigration Department. In 2009, he was “frozen” [a tactic the government uses to hold individuals out of favor at limbo till they are assigned to another job, a state that at times may last for years].
Noting his conditions, the health personnel collaborated and extended their support to him by providing him accommodation to sleep with them (as the temperature is relatively better outside than in the underground cell and there is fresh air outside) and supplied him food from their own rations which were relatively better than the food provided to the prisoners. Later in that night, the prison officer (now I forgot his name) who was next in rank to “Wedi Granite” in authority learned that the health personnel had collaborated with the patient and he was very much angry that Kibrom had been staying outside the underground cell. He threatened the health personnel with punishment for their actions and ordered Kibrom to be returned to the underground cell. 
Sources from Asmara (Eritrea) indicate that the Afwerki administration has been on a panic mood since the day the UN has passed the resolution to impose sanctions on Eritrea. President Isaias Afwerki has fallen into old proven tactics that served him well in times of crisis. Information leaked out from Colonel Tesfaldet Habteselasie office (President’s Office) indicate that as a number of people that have been sidelined for a long time (in the Orwellian language of the PFDJ ruling party, “frozen”) are being “reactivated” to resume important posts, various reshufflings are also being made.
