6000 of the territorial troops retreated to Adwa on 22 September 1943. By 1958 Adwa was one of 27 places in Ethiopia ranked as First Class Township. During the 1960s the town was not only an educational center but also an early focus for nationalist dissent, indicated by the fact that all three of the leaders of the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF) over the 22-year period from 1975 to 1997, Aregawi Berhe, Sebhat Nega, and Meles Zenawi, all came from Adwa and attended the town's government school. Adwa was a frequent target of attacks by the TPLF during the Ethiopian Civil War: in 1978 the TPLF attacked Adwa; in 1979 it unsuccessfully tried to rob the bank. The town permanently passed into TPLF control in March 1988. Adwa and its environs are the native district of many of the core leaders of the TPLF which lead Ethiopia today, and the district was represented in Parliament by the former Prime Minister Meles Zenawi himself. Air raids during the civil war of the 1980s During the Ethiopian Civil War, Adwa was bombed frequently from the air by the Ethiopian National Defence Forces: On 26 March 1989: casualties not known On 27 March 1989, a night attack: casualties not known On 5 November 1989: no fatalities reported On 23 June 1990, on Adi Abun: one person wounded Demographics Based on the 2007 national census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this town has a total population of 40,500, of whom 18,307 are men and 22,193 women. The majority of the inhabitants said they practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 90.27% reporting that as their religion, while 9.01% of the population were Muslim. The 1994 census reported it had a total population of 24,519 of whom 11,062 were males and 13,457 were females. Sports Almeda Textile Football Club (ALTEX) was promoted to the Ethiopian National Football League after winning the Ethiopian football club championships held in Mekelle. ALTEX beat Meta Beer Football Club 2-1 in the final. ALTEX is the first club from Adwa town to represent the town in Ethiopian association football history. Films Adwa - An African Victory (1999). Directed by Haile Gerima Notable people Kinfe Abraham, academic and politician. Gebrehiwot Baykedagn, economist, statesman and political theorist, one of the prominent reformist intellectuals of the early 20th century Ethiopia. Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher, scientist and environmentalist. Sebhat Guèbrè-Egziabhér, writer.