A Twitter account shared a post on Aug 19, 2024, captioned “the Ethiopian government declares a state of emergency as Amhara Fano rebels advance towards the capital.”
By the time this article is published the post is viewed more than 34 thousand times and has more than 200 likes.
However, HaqCheck inspected the image used in the post and proved that the claim is false.
In April 2023, the Ethiopian federal government announced that regional special force units should be disbanded and merged. The Ethiopian federal government gives options to the regional paramilitary forces to join: the national army (ENDF), the regional or federal police, the prison guard department, the anti-riot force, or to leave the discipline and live a normal life.
Following the announcement of the dismantling of regional armed forces, tensions in the Amhara regional state escalated. The incident resulted in human rights violations such as killing individuals by security forces, destruction, and interruption of basic services. Additionally, the internet shutdown continued throughout many parts of the region.
The region keeps witnessing armed conflicts and rallies in response to the federal government’s plan to dismantle the region’s special forces.
Amhara Region Prosperity Party Office head and senior party official, Girma Yeshitila, was assassinated in North Shoa, Amhara region. The Ethiopian government accused armed groups, known as Fano, of assassinating a senior party official and promised to take strong action. Following the incident, deadly clashes started in several areas of the Amhara regional state.
Later, as the conflict in the region escalated, the Amhara regional government requested more help from the federal government. In response to this incident, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed remarked,“It was found necessary to declare a state of emergency as it had become difficult to control this outrageous activity based on the regular legal system”.
In 2024, the federal government issued multiple state of emergency announcements in the region. On August 4, 2023, the federal government declared a six-month state of emergency in the Amhara region following days of clashes between the military and local Fano militiamen, giving it powers to impose curfews, restrict movement, and ban gatherings. Since August, 2023, the government forces have pushed Fano fighters out of cities, but fighting has continued in smaller towns and rural areas.
After the six-month state of emergency, the House of Representatives representative extended the state of emergency for another four months. Parliament said the extension was granted following a request by the justice minister and deliberations among lawmakers. The government denies it is seeking to undermine Amhara’s security.
HaqCheck proved that recently there has been no state of emergency called in the region after the four-month extension made back in February 2024. HaqCheck also can’t find any evidence indicating that the extended state of emergency has been lifted.
The post was shared at the backdrop of this situation.
HaqCheck also analyzed the image used for the purported Fano militants, which showed that it depicted TPLF militants and was posted on many official websites in November 2021. The picture was titled as “Ethiopia Declares State of Emergency as Rebels Advance Toward Capital.”
During the war in the north the federal government declared a state of emergency for its citizens to pick up arms and prepare to defend the capital as TPLF forces from the northern region of Tigray pressed south toward the city following the capture of towns.
The war between the Tigray people liberation front (TPLF) and the Federal government broke out in Nov 2020 after TPLF allegedly attacked the northern command in Tigray. Later they agreed to permanently silence the guns and end the two years of conflict in northern Ethiopia signed in south africa pretoria.
The war between the Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) and the federal government broke out in November 2020 after the TPLF allegedly attacked the northern command in Tigray. Later they agreed to permanently silence the guns and end the two years of conflict in northern Ethiopia signed in South Africa, Pretoria.
Even Though there are several claims that there is still a fight in the second-largest region of the country, Haqcheck inspected the claim and rendered it false.
