An image posted on Facebook on Sep 1, 2022, claimed that the Ethiopian and Eritrean forces jointly launched fresh attacks against the TPLF-led forces via northwestern Tigray, Adyabo.
The Facebook page has over seventeen thousand followers.
However, Haqcheck confirmed that the image doesn’t show Ethiopian and Eritrean troops recently launching fresh attacks through northwestern Tigray, Adiyabo. The image is found to be old, posted nine months ago on Dec 20, 2021.
After months of tension, the federal government of Ethiopia and TPLF went to war on Nov 3, 2020.
The federal government allied with other regional government forces removed TPLf from Mekelle and other major Tigay region towns after three weeks of conventional war.
However, the conflict became protracted since TPLF proceeded with guerrilla warfare.
After months, the federal government together with the temporary administration of Tigray declared a humanitarian ceasefire and withdrew its forces from most Tigray region towns
Immediately, TPLF forces controlled Tigray’s capital city Mekelle and most parts of Tigray.
The conflict didn’t stop here as TPLF advanced their force towards some adjacent areas of the Amhara and Afar region. TPLF reached and controlled major Amhara towns, which are very close to Addis Ababa.
As the Ethiopian military and other allied regional forces launched a counterattack against TPLF, the federal government regained the captured areas of the Amhara and Afar regions by TPLF.
On March 24, 2022, the Ethiopian government declared a stoppage of hostility with TPLF. Soon TPLF accepted the declaration.
Peace talks had been on the way by a third-party mediator. The African Union nominated its Horn of Africa special envoy, Olusegun Obasanjo to facilitate the peace talks. Obasanjo was a former Nigerian president. He went back and forth to bring peace between the two parties.
However, TPLF announced that they don’t have confidence in Obasanjo. Because they say, Obasanjo is incompetent and impartial to facilitate the peace talks between them.
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 announced 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 announced that the TPLF started the war.
It is at this moment that the Facebook page posted an image claiming Ethiopian and Eritrean forces jointly opened an attack through Adyabo, northwestern Tigray.
However, Haqcheck looked into the image and confirmed that the image doesn’t prove the claim.
The image was first published on a website nine months ago on Dec 20, 2021, along with an article regarding the ongoing war in Ethiopia.
Thus, HaqCheck rendered the post False due to its use of an inaccurate image to support the claim.
On Aug 31, 2022 a Facebook post claimed that the Ethiopian government conducted an aerial strike in Mekelle in the middle of the night using drones. It presented two images as proof. The post also alleged that Ayder Hospital was also bombarded during the drone attack. The post was shared close to one thousand times.
However, HaqCheck confirmed that the images do not show a recent ariel bombardment in Mekelle.
War broke out on Dec 3, 2020, between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the federal government of Ethiopia after months of tensions and stand-off.
The federal government of Ethiopia, joined with the Eritrean government and other regional governments, managed to oust TPLF from Mekelle and other major towns of Tigray after three weeks of conventional fighting.
However, the conflict became protracted and continued as TPLF resorted to guerrilla warfare or heat-and-run tactics. The federal government of Ethiopia together with the then Tigray interim administration declared a humanitarian ceasefire in June 2021 and withdrew armed forces from many parts of the Tigray regional state.
Immediately, TPLF armed forces controlled the regional capital city of Mekelle and other areas.
Nonetheless, the fighting continued as TPLF advanced its forces toward the adjacent regional states of Afar and Amhara. The TPLF armed forces controlled many territories including major towns of the Amhara region that are very close to Addis Ababa.
As the Ethiopian military and other allied forces launched a counterattack against the TPLF armed forces, the federal government regained the territories in the Amhara and Afar regional states that were taken into control by the belligerent in the months of November and December last year.
On March 24, 2022, the Ethiopian government declared a cessation of hostilities with the TPLF. The TPLF instantly confirmed that it accepted the declaration of cessation of hostilities by the federal government.
Peace talks had been on the way as third parties tried to mediate between the Ethiopian government and TPLF. The African Union assigned former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, special envoy of the Union to the Horn of Africa to facilitate a potential peace talk between the Ethiopian government and the TPLF. Obasanjo had been back and forth meeting senior leaders of the belligerents trying to facilitate talks between them.
Later on, TPLF announced that it has no confidence in Obasanjo. The TPLF said Obasanjo is not impartial and competent enough to lead potential peace talks and negotiations with the Ethiopian government.
On Aug 16, 2022, the TPLF said that the federal government already violated the cessation of hostilities jointly declared at the end of March. The TPLF claimed that the armed forces of the federal government attacked its forces with artillery and tanks.
On the early morning of Aug 24, 2022, the TPLF stated that the federal government had launched attacks against its armed forces in the southern Tigray areas. It further announced that the main intention of the attacks by the federal government was to launch integrated attacks on the western front.
The federal government however declined the allegations saying the TPLF provoked the attack.
On Aug 31, 2022, TPLF claimed that there was a drone attack by the middle of that night in Mekelle.
Against this backdrop, a claim emerged on Aug 31, 2022 with two images that the Ethiopian government conducted an aerial strike at midnight in Mekelle, and the Ayder Hospital was also bombarded by the drone attack.
However, HaqCheck confirmed that the images don’t show the alleged recent aerial bombardment in Mekelle.
The first image is from Syria and was taken on Oct 18, 2014. This image was published by the VOA.
The second image which pictures a woman, a running person, the Mekelle Martyrs’ memorial monument, and an airplane is learned to be photoshopped.
A Facebook page with more than 120 thousand followers shared a post on Sep 3, 2022, captioned “430 Kalashnikov and other weapons were captured at Raya front….”.
By the time this article was published the post had more than a thousand reactions and was shared more than 150 times.
However, HaqCheck inspected the post and rendered it False.
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the federal government of Ethiopia have been in an active war since Nov 2020.
On August 16, 2022, TPLF declared that the federal government had already broken the cease-fire that had been jointly declared at the end of March. The TPLF claimed that the armed forces of the federal government engaged in an artillery barrage and an assault on its positions.
Later, on Aug 24, TPLF alleged that the federal government had attacked its military forces in the southern Tigray provinces.
On the contrary, The federal government declined the claim and states that TPLF provoked the attack.
On Aug 29, the Ethiopian National Defense Forces said that it is obtaining victory on different fronts.
The post is produced in the context of this situation.
HaqCheck made an investigation on the images and spotted the pictures in a news video on Amhara Media Corporations’ Youtube channel published on Feb 2, 2022. By the time this article was published the video had more than 150 thousand views.
One of The images is spotted in the news video at 23:05 minute.
The other image is spotted in the news video on its 22:57 minute.
The news video is headlined, “In an operation undertaken by the defense forces and the federal police on the terrorist Shene, more than 100 members of the group were eliminated”
The video also shows surrendered members of the claimed rebel group.Therefore, HaqCheck inspected the images and rendered the images used to support the claim False.
Multiple images were shared on social media claiming to support the report that the Ethiopian government shot down a plane carrying weapons to TPLF.
These images were shared on social media platforms mainly on Facebook. They were shared by many accounts and pages.
HaqCheck cross-checked two images and confirmed that the two images don’t show a plane shot down by the Ethiopian Air Force when transporting weapons to the TPLF from Sudan trespassing the country’s airspace.
The first image was shared by a Facebook page with a Tigrinya and English caption stating the Ethiopian Air Force shot down an airplane entering the Ethiopian airspace from Sudan loaded with arms for TPLF.
The second was shared on a Facebook account with a claim that Ethiopia downed a place that belonged to the country’s historical enemies transporting weapons to the TPLF through Sudan.
War broke out on the evening of Dec 3, 2020, between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the federal government of Ethiopia after months of tensions and stand-off.
The federal government of Ethiopia joined with the Eritrean government and other regional governments managed to oust TPLF from Mekelle and other major towns of Tigray after three weeks of conventional fighting.
However, the conflict became protracted and continued as TPLF resorted to guerrilla warfare or heat-and-run tactics. The federal government of Ethiopia together with the then Tigray interim administration declared a humanitarian ceasefire and withdrew armed forces from many parts of the Tigray regional state.
Immediately, TPLF armed forces controlled the regional capital city of Mekelle and other areas.
Nonetheless, the fighting continued as TPLF advanced its forces toward the adjacent regional states of Afar and Amhara. The TPLF armed forces controlled many territories including major towns of the Amhara region that are very close to Addis Ababa.
As the Ethiopian military and other allied forces launched a counterattack against the TPLF armed forces, the federal government regained the territories in the Amhara and Afar regional states that were taken into control by the belligerent in the months of November and December last year.
On March 24, 2022, the Ethiopian government declared a cessation of hostilities with the TPLF. The TPLF instantly confirmed that it accepted the declaration of cessation of hostilities by the federal government.
Peace talks had been on the way as third parties tried to mediate between the Ethiopian government and TPLF. The African Union assigned former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, special envoy of the Union to the Horn of Africa to facilitate a potential peace talk between the Ethiopian government and the TPLF. Obasanjo had been back and forth meeting senior leaders of the belligerents trying to facilitate talks between them.
Later on, TPLF announced that it has no confidence in Obasanjo. The TPLF said Obasanjo is not impartial and competent enough to lead potential peace talks and negotiations with the Ethiopian government.
On Aug 16, 2022, the 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 artilleries and attacked its forces.
On the early morning of Aug 24, 2022, the TPLF stated that the federal government had launched attacks against its armed forces in the southern Tigray areas. It further announced that the main intention of the attacks by the federal government was to launch integrated attacks on the western front.
The federal government however declined that the TPLF started the attack.
After a few days, the Ethiopian government also claimed that it shot down a plane that entered the Ethiopian airspace carrying weapons to TPLF via Sudan.
Amid this situation, images were shared on social media with the claim that a plane was being shot down by Ethiopia when transporting weapons to the TPLF via Sudan.
However, HaqCheck confirmed images from the two Facebook posts it came across don’t show the alleged plane shot down by Ethiopian Air Force when it intruded the Ethiopian airspace from Sudan to transport weapons to Tigray for the TPLF forces.
The first image was found in a news story that reported a plane crashed in the Amra Valley of the state of Arizona in the US in March 2021. The image was published on the website with a description that the image shows the crushed plane and the picture was taken by the Pima County law enforcement agency.
The second image was shared on Twitter on May 4, 2020, with a claim that the image shows an Uzbekistan Mig-29 aircraft.
Therefore, HaqCheck confirmed that these two images don’t show the alleged plane and rated the post False.
Multiple images were shared on social media claiming to support the report that the Ethiopian government shot down a plane carrying weapons to TPLF.
These images were shared on social media platforms mainly on Facebook. They were shared by many accounts and pages.
HaqCheck cross-checked two images and confirmed that the two images don’t show a plane shot down by the Ethiopian Air Force when transporting weapons to the TPLF from Sudan trespassing the country’s airspace.
The first image was shared by a Facebook page with a Tigrinya and English caption stating the Ethiopian Air Force shot down an airplane entering the Ethiopian airspace from Sudan loaded with arms for TPLF.
The second was shared on a Facebook account with a claim that Ethiopia downed a place that belonged to the country’s historical enemies transporting weapons to the TPLF through Sudan.
War broke out on the evening of Dec 3, 2020, between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the federal government of Ethiopia after months of tensions and stand-off.
The federal government of Ethiopia joined with the Eritrean government and other regional governments managed to oust TPLF from Mekelle and other major towns of Tigray after three weeks of conventional fighting.
However, the conflict became protracted and continued as TPLF resorted to guerrilla warfare or heat-and-run tactics. The federal government of Ethiopia together with the then Tigray interim administration declared a humanitarian ceasefire and withdrew armed forces from many parts of the Tigray regional state.
Immediately, TPLF armed forces controlled the regional capital city of Mekelle and other areas.
Nonetheless, the fighting continued as TPLF advanced its forces toward the adjacent regional states of Afar and Amhara. The TPLF armed forces controlled many territories including major towns of the Amhara region that are very close to Addis Ababa.
As the Ethiopian military and other allied forces launched a counterattack against the TPLF armed forces, the federal government regained the territories in the Amhara and Afar regional states that were taken into control by the belligerent in the months of November and December last year.
On March 24, 2022, the Ethiopian government declared a cessation of hostilities with the TPLF. The TPLF instantly confirmed that it accepted the declaration of cessation of hostilities by the federal government.
Peace talks had been on the way as third parties tried to mediate between the Ethiopian government and TPLF. The African Union assigned former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, special envoy of the Union to the Horn of Africa to facilitate a potential peace talk between the Ethiopian government and the TPLF. Obasanjo had been back and forth meeting senior leaders of the belligerents trying to facilitate talks between them.
Later on, TPLF announced that it has no confidence in Obasanjo. The TPLF said Obasanjo is not impartial and competent enough to lead potential peace talks and negotiations with the Ethiopian government.
On Aug 16, 2022, the 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 artilleries and attacked its forces.
On the early morning of Aug 24, 2022, the TPLF stated that the federal government had launched attacks against its armed forces in the southern Tigray areas. It further announced that the main intention of the attacks by the federal government was to launch integrated attacks on the western front.
The federal government however declined that the TPLF started the attack.
After a few days, the Ethiopian government also claimed that it shot down a plane that entered the Ethiopian airspace carrying weapons to TPLF via Sudan.
Amid this situation, images were shared on social media with the claim that a plane was being shot down by Ethiopia when transporting weapons to the TPLF via Sudan.
However, HaqCheck confirmed images from the two Facebook posts it came across don’t show the alleged plane shot down by Ethiopian Air Force when it intruded the Ethiopian airspace from Sudan to transport weapons to Tigray for the TPLF forces.
The first image was found in a news story that reported a plane crashed in the Amra Valley of the state of Arizona in the US in March 2021. The image was published on the website with a description that the image shows the crushed plane and the picture was taken by the Pima County law enforcement agency.
The second image was shared on Twitter on May 4, 2020, with a claim that the image shows an Uzbekistan Mig-29 aircraft.
Therefore, HaqCheck confirmed that these two images don’t show the alleged plane and rated the post False.
A Facebook page with more than 120 thousand followers shared a post on Aug 23, 2022, captioned, “ The people of Tigray in Adigrat held a rally today condemning TPLF….”
By the time this article was published the post had more than a thousand reactions and was shared more than 220 times.
However, HaqCheck inspected the images on the post and rendered them False.
The prolonged war between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the federal government, and its allied forces remained unsolved.
In a news video released on May 10, 2022, TPLF has been stating that if the diplomatic means to end the war fail, it will resort to other means indicating that it will seek military solutions. TPLF has been accusing the federal government and regional authorities of blocking aid from entering Tigray and has complained the aid that has recently reached was below that need.
On Jan 13, 2022, Field Martial Birhanu Jula of the Ethiopian Defense Forces said in an interview, “Tigray people don’t have to die for the sake of TPLF anymore, thousands of lives are lost. People of Tigray have to say no to TPLF.”
The post is then produced in the context of these situations.
HaqCheck inspected the images shared by the page and found the first image on a Facebook page with more than 22 thousand followers.
The image was shared on Sep 4, 2020, with a description of “Tigray will choose its leaders [Adigrat]. Even if the Ethiopian national election is postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic the people of Tigray are about to choose their leaders”. The post also attached 3 images.
In the effort of verifying the images, HaqCheck found the second image on a website called borkena.com in an article shared under the title “Reported clash between students, security forces in Haramaya University.”The article was shared on Jan 9, 2020.
The article stated that the university says “students in the University’s technology institute caused a disturbance around 2:00 o’clock in the afternoon, local time, and went on a vandalism spree. They destroyed two Motorbikes, a coaster van the university uses as a shuttle bus for employees, and an ATM machine belonging to the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE).”
The third image was also previously shared on a Facebook account along with the image used by Borkena [the clash between students of Haramaya university and security forces].
This image was shared on May 19, 2020, captioned, “Public protest in Tigray [Adigrat] against the TPLF administration.”
Even though there had been different unconfirmed and False information about public protests of people in Tigray against the TPLF administration at different times. The images used by the page to support the claim [recent rally in Tigray] are False.Therefore HaqCheck inspected the images and rendered them False.
A video circulating on various social media platforms such as Telegram and Facebook claimed that the video shows TPLF’s prisoners of war recently captured during the ongoing fighting that resumed on Aug 24, 2022.
The video was circulating with a description that the pictured women in the video are TPLF soldiers who voluntarily surrendered in the resumed fighting on the Raya front. It was shared and watched by thousands on various platforms.
However, HaqCheck confirmed that the video doesn’t show TPLF soldiers who voluntarily surrendered in the ongoing fighting. The video is old and was shared on Facebook on Dec 12, 2021. Thus, the claim is rated False.
War broke out on the evening of Dec 3, 2020, between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the federal government of Ethiopia after months of tensions and stand-off.
The federal government of Ethiopia joined with the Eritrean government and other regional governments managed to oust TPLF from Mekelle and other major towns of Tigray after three weeks of conventional fighting.
However, the conflict became protracted and continued as TPLF resorted to guerrilla warfare. The federal government of Ethiopia together with the then Tigray interim administration declared a humanitarian ceasefire and withdrew armed forces from many parts of the Tigray regional state.
Immediately, TPLF armed forces controlled the regional capital city of Mekelle and other areas.
Nonetheless, the fighting continued as TPLF advanced its forces toward the adjacent regional states of Afar and Amhara. The TPLF armed forces controlled many territories including major towns of the Amhara region that are very close to Addis Ababa.
As the Ethiopian military and other allied forces launched a counterattack against the TPLF armed forces, the federal government regained the territories in the Amhara and Afar regional states that were taken into control by the belligerent in the months of November and December last year.
On March 24, 2022, the Ethiopian government declared a cessation of hostilities with the TPLF. The TPLF instantly confirmed that it accepted the declaration of cessation of hostilities by the federal government.
Peace talks had been on the way as third parties tried to mediate between the Ethiopian government and TPLF. The African Union assigned former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, Special envoy of the African Union to the Horn of Africa to facilitate a potential peace talk between the Ethiopian government and the TPLF. Obasanjo had been back and forth meeting senior leaders of the belligerents trying to facilitate talks between them.
Later on, TPLF announced that it has no confidence in Obasanjo. The TPLF said that Obasanjo is not imperial and competent enough to lead potential peace talks and negotiations with the Ethiopian government.
On Aug 16, 2022, the 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 artilleries and attacked its forces.
On the early morning of Aug 24, 2022, the TPLF stated that the federal government had launched attacks against its armed forces in the southern Tigray areas.
It further announced that the main intention of the attacks by the federal government was to launch integrated attacks on the western front.
The federal government announced that the TPLF started the attack.
Against this backdrop, a viral video post came out with a claim that it shows TPLF troops voluntarily surrendered during the resumed fighting.
HaqCheck looked into the video and confirmed that it was old and doesn’t prove the claim.
The video was found shared on Facebook nine months ago on Dec 12, 2021. The description in the footage claimed that the women were TPLF soldiers who were forcefully conscripted and surrendered during the war with the federal-led allied forces.Therefore, HaqCheck rated the claim FALSE as the video doesn’t show TPLF prisoners of war captured during the ongoing fighting between the TPLF and the Ethiopian government that resumed on Aug 24, 2022.
A Facebook page with more than 11 thousand Followers shared a post on Aug 25, 2022, captioned “The huge military Antonov cargo plane shot down by the Ethiopian Air force.”
By the time this article is published the post had more than 90 reactions and was shared more than 60 times.
However, HaqCheck inspected the image and rendered it False.
The press release by the Tigray Army’s military command on Aug 17, 2022, stated that “on August 15, 2022, the Ethiopian National Defense Force, which claims to have built an impregnable fortress in Western Tigray, bombarded Tigray Army forces around Dedebit for an hour with heavy artilleries and tanks.”
The spokesperson of TPLF Getachew Reda said that the Federal Government [Abiy’s administration] had opened an attack on the southern front of Tigray, and the Amhara special forces and Fano militias from Wollo also participated in the offensive. He also added that the Tigray defense forces are defending their territory.
Later, on Aug 24, 2022, Major general Tesfaye Ayalew said that the Ethiopian Air Force shot down an Airplane carrying weapons for TPLF.
It is not mentioned to whom the plane belongs except being referred to as “an airplane believed to be the property of historical enemies which are long been interested and working in weakening of Ethiopia and are supporting the TPLF”.
On the contrary, TPLF denied the claim that the Ethiopian Air Force shot down a plane.
HaqCheck assessed the image and found it on a website called C-130.net. The image is found in an article written about an Egyptian C-130 plane crash during training.
About 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Cairo, in the Fayoum region, the plane reportedly crashed down in Kawm Awshim.
According to Egyptian news media, Mohamed Sayed Ahmed, Brigadier Amr Abdo Rashwan, Majors Ahmed Ibrahim Muwafi, Ahmad Saeed Ali Mchale, Ahmed Fathi Ahmed Mehanna, and Assistant Mohamed Abdel Hakim Abdullah Zenati, all died in the accident.
Even though the government claimed that an airplane passing across the Ethiopian air space was shot down by the Ethiopian Air force, the image used by the Facebook page is wrong. Therefore HaqCheck inspected the post and rendered it False.
A Twitter account with more than 150 thousand followers shared a post on Aug 24, 2022, captioned “Breaking news! An enemy airplane which was about to cross the Ethiopian airspace was shot down by the Ethiopian air force.”
By the time this article is published the post had more than a thousand reactions and was retweeted more than 300 times.
However, HaqCheck inspected the image and rendered it False.
The press release by the Tigray Army’s military command on Aug 17, 2022, stated that “on August 15, 2022, the Ethiopian National Defense Force, which claims to have built an impregnable fortress in Western Tigray, bombarded Tigray Army forces around Dedebit for an hour with heavy artilleries and tanks.”
The spokesperson of TPLF Getachew Reda said that the Federal Government [Abiy’s administration] had opened an attack on the southern front of Tigray, and the Amhara special forces and Fano militias from Wollo also participated in the offensive. He also added that the Tigray defense forces are defending their territory.
Later, on Aug 24, 2022, Major general Tesfaye Ayalew said that the Ethiopian Air Force shot down an Airplane carrying weapons for TPLF.
On the contrary, TPLF denied the claim that the Ethiopian Air Force shot down a plane.
HaqCheck assessed the image and spotted it on a YouTube channel called AERO press BG which has more than two thousand subscribers, captioned, “National Air Cargo’s Boeing 747-400 freighter crash in Afghanistan” on Apr 30, 2013. The video got more than 3 million views.
The video of the incident also appeared on CNN aired on May 2, 2013. It was reported in the news that, “a civilian cargo plane crash killed seven Americans. The moment after taking off from Bagram airbase in Afghanistan six of the Americans on board were from Michigan and one from Kentucky. An American contractor nearby filmed the incident.”
Besides finding the image in the video HaqCheck made a comparison between the video and the image.
The image on Twitter
Footages detected inside the video
The Twitter post cropped out an image from the video of the cargo crash accident and employed it to accompany its claim. This Twitter account shared an image that was also cropped out from this video on Mar 16, 2022, with a claim that “an Antonov plane was shot down by an Eritrean anti-aircraft.”
Even though there are claims from the government that the Ethiopian Air force shot down an Airplane intruding into the Ethiopian Airspace, the image used by the Twitter account is wrong.
Therefore, HaqCheck inspected the post and rendered it False.
Claim of Ethiopia’s debt mounting from 28 to 56 billion USD
Tigrai Television, on July 22, 2022, claimed in a report published on its website that Ethiopia’s debt has dramatically increased since the coming of PM Abiy Ahmed to power in 2018. Citing a report by BBC Amharic on July 22, 2022, the media outlet claimed that Ethiopia’s total debt was 28 billion dollars in 2018 and now after four years, it has amounted to 56.6 billion dollars.
Dimtsi Weyane Television on Jul 26, 2022, claimed that Ethiopia’s debt stock has skyrocketed since PM Abiy came to power.
Tigrai Television again reported the same claim that Ethiopia’s debt soared from 28 billion dollars four years ago to 56 billion dollars in a video report made and released on YouTube on August 11, 2022.
The claim by Tigray Television and Dimtsi Weyane Television was based on a report published by the BBC Amharic on July 22, 2022. BBC Amharic in its article misleadingly said “according to the World Bank in 2020, Ethiopia’s debt was 30.36 billion dollars. But after two years now, Ethiopia’s external and domestic debt is 56.6 billion dollars.”
The statement by BBC Amharic is misleading because the figure “30.36 billion dollars” was only Ethiopia’s external debt stock.
The World Bank on its website has data regarding Ethiopia’s external debt stock from 1970 to 2020. The World Bank data indicates that Ethiopia’s debt in 2020 was 30.36 billion dollars.
According to the annual report for the 2020/21 fiscal year issued by the National Bank of Ethiopia, the country’s external debt was 29.5 billion dollars in July 2021.
As of March 31, 2022, Ethiopia’s total (external and domestic) debt was 56.5 billion dollars, according to a statistical bulletin issued by the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance in May 2022. Out of that, external debt amounts to 28.5 billion dollars.
Despite Ethiopia’s external debt has been increasing, the claim that it expanded from 28 billion dollars four years ago to 56 billion dollars currently is false.
False images of famine
Images were shared on Twitter along with a claim that the image shows victims of famine in Oromia currently.
However, most of the images were found not to be of an ongoing drought or famine in Oromia.
One of the images was shared on different Social media platforms to show the drought in the Oromia West Guji zone.
The other image was posted on May 19, 2022, on a Facebook page with more than 57 thousand followers. The post claimed the image is from Mekele, Tigray.
The third image was also shared on social media and websites in different descriptions at different times.
The Fourth image was taken by a South African photojournalist in which he wins the Pulitzer award. The photo shows a starving child who collapsed on the ground and was struggling to get to a food center in Sudan in 1993.
HaqCheck rated the post Partly False due to its use of inaccurate images.
A false image of Getachew Reda
A viral image was circulating on social media with claims that the picture shows Getachew Reda, a senior TPLF member with an amputated leg.
However, the image is found to be false and was shared along with six other images on Facebook in August 2021 by the Ethiopian Press Agency. The image was shared by the news agency in a news reporting residents of the Kolfe Karanyo district contributed 75 million Birr to the Ethiopian army. HaqCheck rated the image FALSE.
Recommendations
HaqCheck recommends the government and other agencies provide timely information regarding any allegations. The government should ensure access to information.
We urge social media users to be skeptical and avoid misleading information. They should crosscheck unconfirmed claims and look for original sources of the information.
Media outlets should be ethical and refrain from making false claims and figures in their reportage.
A Twitter account shared a post on Aug 20, 2022, Captioned “The United Nations and other organizations should reach out to the Oromo people suffering from Hunger.”
By the time this article is published the post had more than 13 retweets including a Twitter account with more than 15 thousand followers retweeting the post.
However, HaqCheck inspected the image and rendered the post, Partly-False.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA’s) Report rainfall deficits during the recent March-April-May 2022 rainy season have been the most severe in at least the last 70 years in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. The ongoing, four-season drought has been the most extensive and persistent event since 1981.
The report by The Africa Watch which is now part of (the Human Rights Watch) shows that many historic famines were the result of the way civil wars were waged. Sometimes, food stores were seized to feed huge armies of tens of thousands of soldiers. In other cases, cattle and crops were confiscated as a military strategy. These measures degraded communities, making them vulnerable when drought struck.
The claim is thus produced in the context of the current drought situation in the region.
HaqCheck used a Google reverse image search to prove the correctness of the images used by the Twitter account to support the claim.
One of the images is found shared on different Social media platforms to show the drought in the Oromia West Guji zone.
The Fourth image was taken by a South African photojournalist in which he wins the Pulitzer award. The photo shows a starving child who collapsed on the ground and was struggling to get to a food center in Sudan in 1993.
Even though there are several claims that there is starvation caused by drought in Ethiopia, among the four images used by the Twitter account, three of them don’t show the hunger caused by drought in Ethiopia [Oromia]. Therefore, HaqCheck inspected the post and rendered it Partly-False.
![False: The images do not show a recent rally in Tigray [Adigrat]](https://i0.wp.com/haqcheck.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Untitled-3-1.jpg?resize=825%2C510&ssl=1)
![Does the image show people suffering from hunger in Ethiopia [Oromia]?](https://i0.wp.com/haqcheck.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Untitled-1-19.jpg?resize=825%2C510&ssl=1)
