Category: HaqCheck

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.

A Facebook page with over 120 thousand followers posted an image on Dec 5, 2022, claiming that the Ethiopian government conducted an aerial strike, which killed many civilians, in Begi, a place in the West Wollega zone of Oromia region. Besides, it claimed that Oromia Special Police Force members were also attacked in the air strike.

At the moment this article was published, the post was shared close to forty times on the same platform.

Yet, HaqCheck confirmed that the image doesn’t show a recent air attack the Ethiopian government carried out in the place in the West Wollega zone of Oromia. Thus, the post was rated False.

War has been raging in the Oromia regional state between the Oromo Liberation Army, an armed group addressed by the government as Shene, and the Ethiopian government.

Civilians have been killed in aerial attacks conducted by the Ethiopian government in the Oromia region.

A drone attack the Ethiopian government carried out in the town of Mendi, in the West Wollega zone on Nov 9, 2022, killed at least 20 civilians.

Recently conflict broke out in Wollega, Oromia, particularly in the Amhara-Oromia border areas. Social media posts claimed that many civilians died from violence in the ongoing conflict.

It is within this context a Facebook post emerged sharing an image with a claim that a recent aerial attack by the Ethiopian government in the West Wollega zone of Oromia killed many civilians.

Nonetheless, the image doesn’t support the claim civilians were killed during a recent air attack in the town of Begi.

The image is old and taken from a previous online publication. The image was taken from an article published on a website in November 2015.Therefore, HaqCheck concluded that the image doesn’t prove the claim and rated the post as False.

A Facebook page with more than eleven thousand followers shared a post on Dec 4, 2022, claiming that ethnic Amharas were killed in Wollega, Oromia. The post published a video that shows people transporting dead bodies with stretchers.

The post was virally circulating on Facebook and was watched by close to thirty thousand users.

However, HaqCheck inspected the video and confirmed that the video used to prove the claim was old. Thus, the post was rendered False.

Armed conflict between the Ethiopian government and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), a military organization called by the government Shene has been raging.

Besides, there have been violence and massacres targeting civilians. Ethnic Amharas and Oromos were reported to have been recurrently killed by government and armed group attacks.

Last June, more than 200 civilians, mostly ethnic Amharas, were killed in an attack in a place called Tole, in the West Wollega zone of the Oromia region. The government accused OLA of the killing while the armed group denies the blame.

Conflict recently arose in Oromia, particularly in the border areas adjacent to the Amhara regional state.

A local media organization reported last week that Amhara militants (Fano) killed dozens of people in the Kiremu district of the East Wollega zone on Nov 25 and 29, 2022.

Another news site claimed that over 50 civilians were killed in the area in an attack against ethnic Amharas.

It is against this background that the video emerged on Facebook claiming that ethnic Amharas were killed in the latest violence in Wollega, Oromia.

To investigate the claim, HaqCheck used keywords to cross-check if the video was previously published.

Thus, HaqCheck found out that the video was previously published on Mar 5, 2021, on the Facebook page of the Amhara Prosperity Party (APP). The video was shared with a short Amharic caption that ethnic Amharas were massacred by the TPLF in the Mai Kadra town.

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Although there are claims that ethnic Amharas who live in the Oromia regional state were killed in an ongoing conflict, the video clip used in the Facebook post doesn’t show Amhara civilians recently killed in Wollega, Oromia. The video doesn’t prove the claim.Therefore, HaqCheck rated the post False because it used an old and false video to support the claim.

A Facebook post and a Twitter account respectively on Dec 3 and 4, 2022, shared an image with a claim that it shows dead bodies of recently killed people in Wollega, Oromia. The Facebook post claimed that the victims were ethnic Amharas who live in Wollega while the Twitter post alleged that the victims were Oromo farmers killed by Amhara armed forces in Wollega.

The two posts were viral on the respective platforms and got many reactions.

However, HaqCheck confirmed that the image doesn’t show people recently killed in Wollega. Therefore, the image-backed claim made on Facebook and Twitter was rated False.

Reports indicate that there has been an armed conflict between the Ethiopian government and Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), an armed group that is addressed by the government as Shene.

There were recurrent conflicts and violence in Wollega, Oromia. Many civilians including ethnic Amharas and Oromos were killed in the area.

The government blamed OLF-Shene for the killings while the armed organization accused the government of targeting and killing civilians.

Armed fighting was recently reported along the border areas between the Amhara and Oromia regional states.

Addis Standard, a local news outlet stated on Dec 3, 2022, that Amhara militants (Fano) killed dozens of people in the Kiremu district of the East Wollega zone on Nov 25 and 29, 2022.

It was in this context that the two social media posts emerged on Facebook and Twitter sharing an image with a claim that the picture shows dead bodies of recently killed people in Wollega, Oromia.

The Facebook post alleged that the victims were ethnic Amharas who live in Wollega while the Twitter post claimed that the picture shows Oromo farmers recently killed by Amhara armed forces in Wollega.

Both the Facebook post and the Tweet used the same image to support their respective claims.

However, HaqCheck investigated the claim and confirmed that the image doesn’t belong to ethnic Amhara or Oromos recently killed in Wollega.

The image used to back the opposing claims was old and taken from a social media post made on Sep 20, 2022. It was published along with a short article that alleges ethnic Amharas were being killed in Wollega.Therefore, HaqCheck rendered the claim 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.

Two Facebook pages, West Gojjam Communications which has more than fifty-six thousand followers, and ShegerTimes-ሽገር ታይምስ with close to half a million followers shared an image on Nov 28, 2022, claiming that the picture shows a 25-meter tall human skeleton recently excavated in a small village in the West Gojjam zone of Amhara regional state.

The image-backed posts made by the Facebook pages went viral and gained many reactions on the same platform.

However, HaqCheck confirmed that the image doesn’t show a 25-meter-tall giant human skeleton discovered in the West Gojjam zone of the Amhara region. Therefore, the claim was rated False.

Prehistoric human skeletons and fossils have been excavated in Ethiopia. Archeologists discovered 3.2 million years old pieces of human fossils in a place called Hader in Afar regional state in 1974.

On this basis, a social media claim emerged and alleged that a 25-meter-tall human skeleton was recently discovered near a cemetery in the West Gojjam zone of the Amhara regional state. HaqCheck observed two viral Facebook posts using the same image to support the same claim.

HaqCheck investigated the image that was presented to back the claim. However, the image doesn’t show a 25-meter tall giant human skeleton recently found in the alleged area.

The picture was taken from an online publication made in September 2013. The image shows a giant prehistoric human skeleton excavated in the Sahara Desert in Niger by a scientist named Paul Sereno.

The image was also used in a documentary film named Skeletons Of The Sahara, produced by National Geographic Television.Therefore, HaqCheck rendered the claim False.

A viral video was shared across social media platforms, mainly Facebook and Twitter, with a claim that the video was of a recent interview with TPLF chairman, Debretsion Gebremichael (PhD) about the peace agreement and he made good remarks on the deal and PM Abiy Ahmed (PhD).

The video was shared many times. It was watched by over 41 thousand users on a particular Twitter post.

However, HaqCheck confirmed that the video clip was taken from an old interview in 2018 on the peace agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea. It was published on YouTube on Jul 15, 2018.

The Ethiopian federal government and the TPLF had been fighting a two years war that started on Nov 3, 2022.

They agreed to a humanitarian truce at the end of March 2022. However, fighting resumed between the belligerents in August.

Reports indicated that there were informal talks between the TPLF and the Ethiopian federal government to solve the war peacefully.

Finally, they 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)’ on Nov 2, 2022.

According to the deal, TPLF agreed to surrender its weapons to the Ethiopian government and a transitional government to be installed in Mekelle until a regional election is conducted.

The hostile propaganda against each other seems to have discontinued since the agreement was signed.

Against this backdrop, a viral video came out with a claim that it was a recent interview with TPLF chairman, Debretsion Gebremichael (PhD) about the peace agreement and he made good remarks on PM Abiy. The video clip circulated across social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.

However, HaqCheck confirmed that the video clip was taken from an old interview with Debretsion in 2018 about the peace agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea. The recent video was extracted from the old one and was edited to make it look like a recent interview.

The original video was published on YouTube on Jul 15, 2018.

Thus, the posts were rated False.

A Twitter account with more than 200 thousand followers shared a post claiming that TPLF militants in Maytsemri surrendered their weapons to local authorities and gathered in temporary camps. The post presented four pictures to support the claim.

By the time this article is published the post had close to two thousand reactions and was retweeted more than half a thousand times.

Yet, HaqCheck inspected the post and confirmed the images don’t support the claim. Accordingly, the post is rendered False.

On 2 November 2022, a peace deal was signed between Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Ethiopian federal government.

The TPLF agreed to surrender its weapons and demobilize its combatant forces. The peace pact nullified the regional election conducted in the Tigray regional state without the consent of the federal government in September 2020.

On Nov 12, 2022, top military leaders of the Ethiopia National Defence Force (ENDF) and the TPLF forces (under the name of Tigray Armed Combatants) agreed to form a joint committee to “elaborate on the modalities for the implementation of comprehensive disarmament, demobilization and reintegration program.”

Per the peace agreement, disarmament of heavy weapons will be conducted when foreign forces and non-ENDF forces leave the Tigray region.

After disarmament and demobilization, TPLF combatants will be reintegrated into the Ethiopian army, according to the peace deal.

Against this backdrop, a claim appeared on Twitter sharing four images that TPLF combatants in Maytsemri were already surrendering their weapons to local authorities and gathering in temporary camps.

In an effort to verify the claim, HaqCheck spotted the images in a video shared by a local media outlet, Fana Broadcasting Corporation (FBC), on its Facebook and Youtube channels. The video was shared with the claim that TPLF’s arms depot was found in a raid in Mekelle.

Therefore, HaqCheck rated the post False due to its usage of inaccurate images to support the claim.

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 Facebook page with more than 38 thousand followers shared four images on Nov 18, 2022, claiming that the pictures are of a design of a satellite town to be built in Addis Ababa. The post also states that the satellite town (aka the Chaka Project) covers a large swath of land stretching from around Entoto to Tafo.

The Facebook post was viral and was shared many times on the same platform.

However, HaqCheck confirmed that the images don’t show a design of the so-called project and rendered it as False.

Since the coming of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) to the premiership, the government launched ambitious projects in the capital city.

Among these fancy projects are Entoto Park, Friendship Park, Unity Park, the Meskel Square Underground Parking Lot, the Beautifying Sheger riverside project, the Science Museum, and the Abrehot Library. All except the riverside project are completed and open for visitors.

Reports show that the Office of the Prime Minister is undertaking the construction of a satellite town which will comprise a new national palace.

The project will lay on a thousand hectares of land in the Yeka district of Addis Ababa.

On Nov 15, 2022, Prime Minister Abiy (PhD) told members of the Parliament that the government is constructing a modern satellite town that will cost billions of dollars.

In this context, a claim emerged on Facebook sharing four images alleging that the pictures were of the design of the satellite town which is currently under construction.

Nonetheless, HaqCheck found out that the pictures don’t show the design of the alleged project.

The first image was published on a website on  Jul 15, 2010, and allegedly shows a design of a hotel in Moscow, Russia.

The second, third, and fifth pictures of the post are of a design of a smart forest city in Mexico. The images were first published on a website in October 2019.

The fourth image shows an overhead shot of Entoto Natural Park built on the northern outskirts of Addis Ababa.

Therefore, HaqCheck rated the post as False.