Author: Yared Yikuno

On Mar 5, 2023, a Facebook page posted two images claiming that Eritrean troops were destroying forests in Adiyabo, a locality in the northwestern zone of Tigray bordered by Eritrea. 

The Facebook page has over a hundred thousand followers and the post was shared twenty-four times at the moment.

However, HaqCheck looked into the images and confirmed that the pictures don’t support the claim. The images were first posted on different websites on Mar 26, 2019, and Mar 27, 2021, respectively.

War broke out between the federal government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) on Nov 3, 2020.

The Eritrea Defence Forces, Amhara regional militia, and other armed forces were involved in the war alongside the federal government of Ethiopia against TPLF forces.

However, the war came to an end after the two parties signed a peace agreement in Pretoria, South Africa on Nov 2, 2022. The peace agreement asserts that TPLF forces shall surrender their weapons and foreign and non-ENDF armed forces to leave the regional state of Tigray.

The Ethiopian government and the TPLF agreed that the disarmament of heavy weapons of the TPLF should be done concurrently with the withdrawal of Eritrean and non-ENDF forces from Tigray.

The TPLF authorities and media outlets had accused Eritrean troops of atrocities and looting.

After the Ethiopian government and the TPLF signed the peace treaty, Eritrean soldiers withdrew from major towns in the Tigray regional state and pooled into the border areas.

Yet, the TPLF authorities recently stated that Eritrean troops were still in the regional state of Tigray and didn’t fully withdraw.

Against this backdrop, a Facebook page posted two images on March 5, 2023, claiming that Eritrean soldiers were destroying forests in Adiyabo, a locality north of Shire town.

However, HaqCheck looked into the images and confirmed that the pictures don’t prove the claim.

The images were old and taken from previous publications.

The first image was posted on March 26, 2019, by the DW website to report the incidence of wildfire at Bale National Park.

The second picture was published by the BBC News Tigrinya on Mar 27, 2021, along with a story regarding a bushfire that occurred in Ethiopia.

Therefore, HaqCheck rated the post as False due to the use of irrelevant pictures.

On Feb 5, 2023, a Twitter account posted three images claiming illegal rifles and ammunition were discovered in the house of Abune Abraham, Archbishop of Bahir Dar and head of the Patriarchate Office. The post claimed that five Kalashnikov rifles with 235 bullets were retrieved during a police search.

The Twitter post was shared close to one hundred times and was viewed by more than twenty thousand users on the platform.

However, HaqCheck looked into the images and confirmed that they don’t support the claim. Thus, the post was rendered False.

On Jan 22, 2023, former archbishops of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church appointed bishops without the recognition of the synod of the church.

Abune Sawiros,  Archbishop of South West Shoa, and two others ordained 26 episcopates in Oromia and southern parts of the country. Seventy bishops nominated by Abune Sawiros have been assigned to dioceses in the Oromia regional state.

The breakaway bishops led by Abune Sawiros announced they established the ‘Synod of Oromia and Ethiopian Nations and Nationalities’.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church’s Synod immediately convened about the issue and denounced the bishops who participated in the appointment of the breakaway episcopate. The synod excommunicated Abune Sawiros and other bishops for ‘violating the church’s canonical orders’.

A few days later, the breakaway archbishops responded by condemning and excommunicating twelve Ethiopian Orthodox Church archbishops.

Abune Abraham, Archbishop of Bahr Dar diocese and head of the Patriarchate Office of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church was among the bishops counter-excommunicated by the breakaway episcopates.

It was in this context a Twitter post emerged on Feb 5, 2023, sharing three images supporting a claim that illegal weapons and ammunition were found at the house of Abune Abraham, Archbishop of Bahir Dar diocese and head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Orthodox Church Patriarchate Office. The post stated that five Kalashnikov rifles with 235 bullets were discovered.

However, HaqCheck looked into the images and confirmed that the pictures were old and don’t support the claim.

The first image was published on a website that advertises luxury hotels in Addis Ababa. The website claims that the image is of a hotel in Bole named Sheger Royal.

The second picture was previously published by a news site on Sep 30, 2020, in a report that India signed a deal with Russia to procure 770,000 Kalashnikov rifles.

The third image is a picture of Abune Abraham.

Therefore, HaqCheck rated the post as False.

On Feb 3, 2023, a Facebook page posted an image claiming that Eritrean troops were still in the northeastern parts of the Tigray regional state. The post also said that Eritrean soldiers detained workers of international organizations.

The Facebook page has over a hundred thousand followers and the post was shared twenty-five times.

However, HaqCheck checked the image and proved that the image was old and doesn’t support the claim that Eritrean soldiers were still in Tigray.

War broke out between the Ethiopian government and Tigray Liberation Front (TPLF) on Nov 3, 2020, following months of tension.

The Eritrea Defence Forces, Amhara regional militia, and other armed forces were involved in the war alongside the federal government of Ethiopia against TPLF forces.

The belligerents signed a peace agreement in November 2022 to end the two years war. The peace agreement concluded in Pretoria asserts that TPLF forces shall surrender their weapons and foreign and non-ENDF armed forces to leave the regional state of Tigray.

The Ethiopian government and the TPLF agreed that the disarmament of heavy weapons of the TPLF should be done concurrently with the withdrawal of Eritrean and non-ENDF forces from the Tigray.

News reports indicate that Eritrean soldiers started withdrawing from Tigray last month. They left the towns of Aksum, Adwa, and Shire. Additionally, Amhara regional armed forces also reportedly left Shire town.

Yet, it is still unknown whether the non-ENDF and Eritrean troops have fully withdrawn from the Tigray regional state.

In this background, a Facebook post emerged on Feb 3, 2023, sharing an image  with a claim that Eritrean soldiers had not fully withdrawn and were still in northeastern parts of Tigray.

However, HaqCheck cross-checked the claim and confirmed that the image doesn’t support the claim. The image was taken from an old  publication made in May 2021. It was first published along with a news story by CNN.

Therefore, HaqCheck rendered the post False.

On Jan 22, 2023, a Facebook page with close to one hundred thousand followers posted an image claiming that Oromo Liberation Army militants opened a sudden attack on a camp and killed more than 20 police officers during an ongoing conflict in Jewha town, Amhara regional state.

The post was viral and was shared close to forty times on Facebook.

However, HaqCheck investigated the image and confirmed that the image used to support the claim is old. Therefore, the post was rated False.

Ethiopia has been experiencing recurrent conflict, particularly in recent years. The armed conflict between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) was settled in a peace agreement signed at the beginning of November last year.

The Ethiopian government has been fighting insurgency with the Oromo Liberation Army, which is addressed by the government as Shene.

Mass killings and displacement occurred amid the insurgency. The belligerents have been accusing each other of targeting civilians.

There have been intercommunal conflicts and violence in Oromia and Amhara regions. The Wollega zones in Oromia and the North Shewa and Oromo Special zones in Amhara were rage by recurrent conflicts.

Conflict broke out in the Oromo Special Zone in October 2019 in which three people were killed.

In March and April 2021, over three hundred thousand people were displaced in a conflict in the troubled zone. A year later, violence ensued and more than a dozen people were reported killed.

Social media and news reports this week indicate that conflict erupted in the North Shewa and Oromo Special zones and in the towns of Ataye and Jewha in particular.

Against this backdrop, a Facebook post emerged claiming that Oromo Liberation Army militants launched a sudden attack on a camp and killed more than 20 police officers during an ongoing conflict in the town of Jewha, Amhara regional state.

However, HaqCheck investigated the image and confirmed that the image used to support the claim was old. The picture doesn’t prove the claim.

The image was originally published on a website on  March 20, 2021, along with a short news story.

Therefore, HaqCheck rated the post False due to its usage of an inaccurate image.

On Jan 9, 2023, a Twitter account posted an image with a claim that properties were recently being looted [by Eritrean soldiers] from Tigray regional state.

The tweet was shared 75 times and was viewed by over two thousand users on the platform.

However, HaqCheck found out that the image used to support the claim was old. The picture was first published on Facebook on April 21, 2022.

After months of tension, the federal government of Ethiopia and TPLF went to war on Nov 4, 2020.

Allied forces, including the Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) and Amhara regional militias, were also involved alongside the federal government squashing the TPLF.

The armed forces involved in the two-year armed conflict were accused of mass killing and looting.

The war lasted for two years until a peace agreement was signed between the two parties at the beginning of November 2022.

Since the peace deal was signed in Pretoria, South Africa, fighting has been stopped.

The peace agreement between the Ethiopian government and the TPLF asserts that the disarmament of heavy weapons of the TPLF should be done concurrently with the withdrawal of Eritrean and non-ENDF forces from the Tigray regional state.

At the end of last month, Eritrean troops were reported to start leaving major towns in the Tigray regional state.

Yet, it is still unknown whether the non-ENDF and Eritrean troops have fully withdrawn from the Tigray regional state.

On Jan 9, 2023, a tweet emerged sharing an image with a claim that Eritrean troops recently looted properties from Tigray. The image used in support of the claim depicts many trucks transporting unidentified materials.

However, HaqCheck looked into the claim and confirmed that the image doesn’t prove the claim.

The image is old and was published for the first time on Apr 21, 2022, on Facebook. The description of the original image states that the picture shows looted properties being transported from Humera to Gondar at the time.

Therefore, HaqCheck rated the post as False.

On Dec 5, 2022, a Facebook page posted an image captioned in Amharic, “this is not a film, this is what happened in our country, Ethiopia” implicitly claiming that a person was burnt during a recent conflict in Ethiopia.

The post has got so many reactions and was shared over sixty times on Facebook.

However, HaqChek looked into the post and confirmed that the image is old and doesn’t show a person immolated in a recent conflict in Ethiopia. The image was first posted on Twitter eight years ago on Oct 6, 2014.

For some years now Ethiopia has been undergoing instability and recurrent internal conflicts. There have been internal border disputes, inter-communal conflicts, widespread displacement, and mass killings.

Above all, war was ongoing between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) for the last two years.

Conflict recently erupted in Wollega, in the Oromia regional state of Ethiopia. Violence and mass killings were reportedly committed during the latest conflict in Wollega.

A local news outlet reported on Dec 3, 2022, that militants (Fano) from the neighboring Amhara region killed dozens of people in the Kiremu district of the East Wollega zone on Nov 25 and 29, 2022.

It is within this context that a Facebook page posted an image claiming that a person was immolated in a recent conflict in Ethiopia. 

However, HaqCheck inspected the claim and confirmed that the picture doesn’t support the alleged information that it shows people burning a person during a recent conflict in Ethiopia.

The image was first published on Twitter on Oct 6, 2014. The original picture was posted on the platform with an English caption, “Mob Justice is just bad. Where is the rule of law?”. The Twitter account that posted the original image has over thirty thousand followers and it claims it presents news stories from Malawi.

Therefore, due to its usage of an inaccurate image, HaqCheck rated the post as False.

On Nov 30, 2022, a Facebook account posted an image showing Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki receiving a gift from Amhara regional state government delegates. The photo gift depicts a picture of Emperor Haile Selassie I and the post used the picture to criticize the supporters of the Eritrean ruling party saying “you are supporting this [President Isaias]” implicitly stating that the President was working with Eritrea’s historical enemies.

The post was shared several times on Facebook and got many reactions.

However, HaqCheck looked into the picture and confirmed that the image doesn’t show the present the representatives of the Amhara regional state gave to president Isaias. The image used in the post was photoshopped.

After Italy was defeated by the Allied Powers during WWII, the British military took control of the administration of the former Italian colony, Eritrea. In 1952, the United Nations decided that Eritrea should be federated with Ethiopia.

However, the last Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire, Haile Selassie I dismissed the federation and annexed Eritrea to be one of the provinces of Ethiopia with no autonomous status.

The Emperor had been facing armed resistance in Eritrea before he was overthrown by the Derg regime. The Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki himself was the leader of a popular armed insurgent (Eritrean People’s Liberation Front) resisting the Emperor and for the self-determination right of Eritrea.

After a two-decade of the no-peace-no-war situation between Eritrea and Ethiopia, peace was made between the countries. The leaders of the two countries signed a peace agreement in 2018.

The relationship between Ethiopia and Eritrea was greatly improved. Following the peace agreement, there were many government official tours and from-and-to travels.

Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki along with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy visited various places in Ethiopia including Addis Ababa, Gondar, Hawassa, and Arba Minch.

In Sep 2018, delegates of the Amhara regional state government, led by Worksemu Mamo, speaker of the regional State Council traveled to Eritrea for a five-day visit. The delegation presented a gift to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki.

The present given to the President was a picture that depicts the Geez alphabet, the Castles of Gondar,  the Obelisk of Axum, and the rock-hewn Church of Lalibela.

When the war between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) broke out in October 2020 Eritrea was by the side of the Ethiopian federal government and allied regional forces helping defeat the TPLF armed forces.

It’s in this context that a Facebook post came out on Nov 30, 2022, claiming that Eritrean president Isaias Afwerki received a picture gift that depicts the image of the last Ethiopian Emperor, Haile Selassie I.

However, HaqCheck cross-checked the claim and confirmed that the image doesn’t prove the claim. The image presented to support the claim was altered.

The original image was first published on Facebook on Sep 14, 2018, and the gift that was presented to the President portrays the Geez alphabets, the Castles of Gondar, the Obelisk of Axum, and the rock-hewn Church of Lalibela.

Therefore, HaqCheck rated the Facebook post False because it used an altered image.

On Oct 19, 2022, a Facebook post was made sharing an image with a claim that the Ethiopian armed forces took control of the towns of Aksum and Selekhlekha. The first picture shows two men who wear the uniform of the Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) walking and the obelisks of Aksum shown behind them. The other two depict persons carrying light weapons.

HaqCheck inspected the images to see if they support the claim and confirmed that one of the pictures was old and doesn’t prove the Ethiopian armed forces took control of the towns. Thus, the post was rated Partly false.

After months of tension, the federal government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) went to war on Nov 3, 2020.

The federal government allied with other regional armed forces removed TPLf from Mekelle and other major Tigayan towns after three weeks of conventional war.

However, the conflict became protracted as the TPLF resorted to guerrilla warfare.

After months, the federal government together with the provisional administration of Tigray declared a humanitarian ceasefire and withdrew its forces from Mekelle and other towns.

Thereafter, TPLF armed forces took control of the areas and advanced southward seizing territories in the Amhara and Afar regional states.

As the Ethiopian military and allied regional forces launched a counterattack against  TPLF, the federal government regained the captured areas of the Amhara and Afar regions.

On March 24, 2022, the Ethiopian government declared a truce and it was adopted by the TPLF.

There were informal talks between the parties to reach a peace pact with the help of the African Union and the United States.

On Aug 16, 2022, TPLF announced that the federal government already violated the cessation of hostilities jointly declared at the end of March. The TPLF said that the armed forces of the federal government fired artillery and attacked its forces.

It further stated that the main intention of the attacks by the federal government was to launch an integrated attack on the western front.

On the other hand, the Ethiopian government asserted that the TPLF resumed the fighting.

Sooner TPLF leaders also announced that there had been full-scale attacks around the Tigray region.

The Ethiopian government said that it controlled the Shire, Tigray region and began humanitarian aid delivery into captured areas.

In this context, a Facebook post emerged on Nov 19, 2022, sharing three images with a claim that the Ethiopian armed forces seized the town of Aksum and Selekhlekha.

However, one of the pictures was old and doesn’t prove the claim. The image was first published on a website on Feb 19, 2021.

Yet, Haqcheck could not confirm whether or not the second and third pictures support the claim.Therefore, the post was rated Partly False.

A Twitter account that has sixteen thousand followers posted three images on Nov 20, 2022, to support a claim that residents of Mekelle protested against [TPLF] armed forces. The tweet alleges that the people protested because armed forces [of TPLF] hindered the delivery of food aid to the city. The Twitter post was viral and was retweeted over 250 times at that moment.

However, HaqCheck inquired into the claim and proved that two of the three images don’t show Mekelle residents recently protesting. Thus, the post was rated Partly False.

Fighting between the Ethiopian federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) resumed on Aug 24, 2022, after TPLF announced that the truce that was bilaterally adopted at the end of March 2022 was already violated by the Ethiopian government.

Later on, the TPLF announced that the Ethiopian armed forces and allied combatants launched massive attacks from all directions into Tigray.

After fighting in northwestern Tigray, the federal government-led allied forces took control of major Tigrayan towns including Shire, Axum, and Adwa.

Reports indicated that there were informal talks between the TPLF and the Ethiopian federal government to settle the armed conflict.

Finally, the belligerents signed a peace deal dubbed ‘Agreement for lasting peace through a permanent cessation of hostilities between the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF)’ in South Africa on Nov 2, 2022.

The Ethiopian government stated that aid has been flowing into the regional state after the peace agreement was signed. Other reports also indicate that humanitarian aid has since been delivered to Tigray.

The TPLF armed forces had been accused of looting USAID food aid in Amhara regional state. The World Food Program (WFP) also claimed that TPLF forces stole over half a million liters of fuel designated for humanitarian aid distribution in Tigray

Against this backdrop, a claim emerged on Twitter on Nov 20, 2022, alleging that Mekelle residents protested against [TPLF] armed forces for hindering food aid delivery into the city. The tweet shared three images to support the claim.

HaqCheck, however, proved that two of the three pictures were old.

The first image was taken from a Facebook post made on Jul 16, 2019. The picture shows a popular memorial monument in the heart of Mekelle city.

The second image was first published by Deutsche Welle (DW) Amharic on Jul 27, 2021, along with a short news story that Mekelle University students who were stranded in Tigray after TPLF armed forces captured the regional capital were safely evacuated.

HaqCheck could not confirm whether the third image supports the claim or not.Therefore, the post was rendered as Partly False.