Nakfa is perched on a plateau at approx 1,800 meters. Meo River is the source of most of the water of Nakfa that the liberation forces launched their offensive from. The town was totally destroyed during the war and is now in the process of rehabilitation; the road to Nakfa from Afabet is associated with a great deal of history, bearing the marks of Eritrea's armed struggle when the liberation forces captured many enemy vehicles.

There is also a Turkish fort at Kubkub, 19 km away from Afabet. Nearby are the trenches of Denden, the underground hospital at Tsabra and the Winna technical college, which were both built into the mountainsides and were virtually impregnable during the war.