The Ethiopian Journal of Social Sciences Volume 1, Number 1, May, 2015 39 Operation Flame and the Destruction of the 3 rd Division Fantahun Ayele* 7 Abstract The Third Division was one of the eminent army units of the Ethiopian ground forces. Since its creation in the 1940s, it was based in the Ogaden for many years to repulse possible Somali invasion. Following the defeat of Somali in 1978, it was involved in many counter-insurgency operations in Eritrea, Tigray, Wollo and Northern Shewa. In May 1990, the high command worked out a plan known as “Operation Flame” to wipe out the insurgents based in Northern Shewa and southern Wollo. But the operation miserably failed and that led to the destruction of the Third Division. Using untapped archival and oral sources, this paper attempts to investigate the main reasons for the failure of the operation. Key words: Operation flame, army division, military, Derg, command. *Assistant professor of history, Bahir Dar University, email: fantahun@gmail.com