A Facebook page with more than 300 thousand followers shared an image with a claim that the picture shows an Ethiopian army soldier recently surrendered to Fano militants in the ongoing conflict in the Amhara region.
The Facebook post was viral on the platform and was shared close to 200 times and gained over 1,700 reactions by the time this article was published.
However, HaqCheck inspected the post and found that the image was old and doesn’t support the claim. Therefore, HaqCheck rendered the claim False.
On Apr 6, 2023, the Ethiopian federal government announced that it had decided that regional special police forces should be dissolved and integrated into the Ethiopian National Defence Forces, the Federal Police, or the regional police.
Upon the announcement of the dissolution of regional paramilitary forces, tensions arose in the Amhara regional state. There were armed clashes and public protests in the region opposing the federal government’s decision to disestablish regional special police forces.
Reports and social media posts have indicated that the ongoing conflict in the Amhara region killed many people.
The VOA Amharic recently reported that fighting between the Ethiopian military soldiers and Fano insurgents continued in many parts of the Amara region, Bahir Dar, the regional capital.
The Ethiopian government also stated that Fano militants captured many areas including major cities in the Amhara regional state.
Social media posts claimed that Fano milia groups captured Ethiopian army troops and various weapons during the ongoing conflict.
Against this backdrop, a viral Facebook post emerged sharing an image with a claim that many Ethiopian army soldiers surrendered to Fano militant groups.
To verify the claim, HaqCheck used a Google reverse image search. As a result, the image was found previously posted on X (Twitter) on Jan 7, 2022. The picture was shared on X with a caption that reads, “Our heroes are falling for our freedom, peace, and safety, as well as for the sovereignty of our motherland Ethiopia, and wish them a happy holiday. Ethiopia Shall prevail.”
The original post on X was retweeted close to 300 times.
Therefore, HaqCheck rated the Facebook post False due to its usage of an inaccurate image.
