The Kebur Zabagna has been the elite and imperial force of the Ethiopian Empire since the 1920s. In that time, they have fought in the Italo-Abyssinian War, the Korean War, and the Kenya Emergency. During these engagements, the Kebur Zabagna has brought honour and glory to Ethiopia and in that time developed strong martial traditions. As the Imperial Guard of Ethiopia, also known as the First Division, this unit served the dual purposes of providing security for the Emperor of Ethiopia, and being an elite infantry division. It was not, however, part of the organizational structure of the Ethiopian regular army as it was part of the Zebagna, the Addis Ababa Guard. While currently the leader of the Kebur Zabagna is the reformer Mengistu Neway, his position was relocated to being the "Chief Home Guard Imperial Officer", which in reality was a position that reduced him to a mere administrator. Mengistu Neway was replaced as head of the Guard by the Emperor's son-in-law, Abiye Abebe, a much more orthodox and traditional member of the nobility.

With the appointment of Abiye Abebe to commander of the Guard, he has been given the title of Azmach (አዝማች azmač, Commander of the Rearguard). Now that the Kebur Zabagna was under the control of a loyal and trustworthy noble, the Guard could be expanded and developed into a much larger size. The Imperial Treasury has dedicated an estimated $900,000 USD to the Guard, hoping to use the funds to recruit more soldiers, improve the weaponry used, and hire foreign experts to train up the Kebur Zabagna. Already, weapons had been purchased ahead of time that will be used to equip the three new battalions that are being considered for recruitment.

Members of the Kebur Zabagna equipped with somewhat modern weapons

The Kebur Zabagna

^{1 2 3} These are the newly formed battalions, the remaining nine battalions were formed pre-1960