An X account with more than 5 thousand followers recently shared a post captioned “Supporters and opponents of the Eritrean government are clashing globally”. The post received a lot of attention on X.
However, HaqCheck inspected the post and found that the video was about an incident on Woodbourn Road in Attercliffe. The post was wrongly portrayed as a politically motivated clash between government supporters and opponents of Eritrean diasporas.
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The fight between Eritreans around the world stems from deep-rooted political issues within Eritrea itself. President Isaias Afwerki has ruled Eritrea for 33 years without holding a national election. The country lacks a constitution, and any form of political dissent outside the ruling PFDJ movement is not allowed.
Eritrea enforces indefinite military conscription on its citizens, leading to a highly militarized society. Many young Eritreans flee the country to escape this mandatory service, contributing to a diaspora opposition movement.
Amid this dictatorial leadership, dissatisfied citizens of Eritrea have formed opposition groups like Brigade Ni’hamedu, which take a radical stance against the government and actively protest pro-government events abroad.
Recently, There was a clash in Tel Aviv between the opponents of the Eritrean regime and the supporters of the government. As we can recall in September 2023, violent riots took place in Tel Aviv between the opponents of the Eritrean regime and the supporters of the government.
Against this backdrop, a video was shared on X (Twitter) claiming that “Supporters and opponents of the Eritrean government are clashing globally.”
HaqCheck investigated the claim to see if the video supports the claim and found that the video shows a disorder among a large group of people fighting in the street at Woodbourn Road in Attercliffe.
According to the BBC, a street fight broke out on Woodbourn Road at around 2.25 pm on Saturday, May 25, 2024 afternoon. The incident unfolded on Woodbourn Road in Attercliffe, causing disruption and concern among residents and local authorities.
It is essential to emphasize that during the police announcement, the incident was not announced as it was related to any political affiliations or targeted against the Eritrean communities as told by the X account. The situation involved a disorder among a large group of individuals, and still not confirmed that it is related to political or social causes.
We have also found an update regarding the situation in Woodbourn, in which police are calling for witnesses who were there at the time and have information or video footage to come forward.
