taken from the Italians by the 2/6 King's African Rifles on 3 February 1941.
Lij Tewodros, a son of Lij Iyasu, surfaced in the Gambela area in May 1941 proclaiming himself Emperor. His insurrection was put down by Belgian Congo troops before they left the area in February 1942.
A new Anglo-Ethiopian treaty was signed on 19 December 1944 which virtually eliminated British privileges, but the Gambela enclave continued. The Ethiopian government gradually increased its control over the enclave: outlawing theMaria Theresa Thaler as legal tender, requiring all merchants to obtain passports in person in Addis Ababa, and in 1951 informing the British resident, Captain Dribble, that he could no longer judge or imprison anyone. When he departed 30 October 1954, the end of the enclave was in sight. The enclave was still held by the Sudanese when they achieved independence, but they did not agree to hand the enclave back to Ethiopia until 15 October 1956. The port was closed during the Derg era, and as of 2005 it remains closed due to tension between the Sudan People's Liberation Army and the Ethiopian government, though there are hopes to reopen the port.
The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front announced on 27 May 1991 that they had gained control of Gambela.
On 13 December 2003, in an apparent reprisal for a series of ambushes of highlander civilians, 30 Ethiopian soldiers and highlander civilians launched a brutal attack on Gambela's Anuak population. Human Rights Watch has estimated that 424 people were killed. An armed Anuak group (which John Young speculates is the Gambela People's Liberation Movement) attacked a prison in the capital 30 October 2005, freeing inmates, and killing the police commissioner.
In March 2012, a bus was attacked, with 19 people on board being shot dead
