An image was posted on Facebook on June 16, 2023, with a claim that heavy fighting was ongoing between Fano militias and the Ethiopian military troops in Eastern Gojjam, Amhara region. It also claimed that the Ethiopian troops deployed into the area were defeated and forced to retreat.
The Facebook post was viral and shared more than forty-five times on the platform.
However, the image used to support the claim was old and has no connection with the claim. Thus, HaqCheck rated the claim as False.
After the Ethiopian government began demobilizing regional special police forces, there have been resistance and clashes in the Amhara region.
Additionally, a former leader of the Addis Ababa-based Balderas Party Eskindir Nega, recently announced that he formed a military organization named Amhara Popular Force to wage an armed resistance against the Ethiopian government.
The Amhara regional state was embroiled in widespread protest and armed clashes between the Ethiopian government’s armed forces and informal armed militias.
News reports indicate that many people have been killed in the regional state in recent armed confrontations.
Recent conflicts and protests were also reported in East and West Gojjam zones of the region in which protesters were killed by security personnel and armed militias killed Ethiopian army soldiers.
Against this backdrop, a Facebook post emerged sharing an image with a claim that there was heavy fighting between Fano militias and the Ethiopian military troops in Eastern Gojjam, Amhara region, and the Ethiopian soldiers were defeated and retreated.
HaqCheck looked into the image to see whether it supports the claim. However, the image was old and published on social media platforms years ago.
The picture was published on Twitter for the first time on Nov 23, 2021, when Fano militias, alongside the Ethiopian and Eritrean armed forces, were fighting against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) forces. The original image was also shared in this context.
Granted that there were armed clashes and resistance in the Gojjam zones of the Amhara regional state, the image doesn’t support the claim. Therefore, HaqCheck rated the claim as False due to its usage of an inaccurate image.
