Fact Checks - Page 18 of 43

Weekly summary: August week two

A person healed with traditional medicine

One of the false image-backed claims appeared last week was a claim that a person who had a serious leg injury was recently healed with traditional medicine.

However, HaqCheck confirmed that the image doesn’t show a person healed with traditional medicine and urges social media users not to be victims of fraud.

HaqCheck inspected the image and found out that the young man in the image is named Yetbarek who is surgically treated at CURE Ethiopia Children’s Hospital, Addis Ababa branch of Cure International, a network of many pediatric hospitals throughout the globe.

According to the information on the hospital website, Yetbarek had a bad fracture on his right leg under his knee after his tibia broke while playing football. He received surgical treatment from the hospital starting in June 2019. The hospital said that Yetbarek was successfully healed and shared many pictures of him.

The image was first posted on the hospital’s website in Feb 2020. Therefore, HaqCheck rated the post false.

False images of flooding in Sudan

HaqCheck observed false images being circulating across Facebook claiming that there was catastrophic flooding in Sudan recently. One Facebook post made on Aug 9, 2022 sharing images claimed that Sudan was experiencing an ongoing flooding and the construction of the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) will help it reducing the risk of flooding.

However, the images were false that dont show ongoing flooding in Sudan.

It was reported that the eastern and western parts of Sudan particularly the Darfur region have been struck with flooding.

However, the images that were shared by the Facebook page dont represent ongoing floding in Sudan.

For instance, one of the images put above shows flooding due to heavy rain in Turkey in 2018.

False numbers of a Red Cross fertilizer donation in Tigray

On Aug 8, 2022, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) donated fertilizers to conflict-affected farmers in the Tigray regional state.

Thenafter, false information regarding the amount of the fertlizers the Red Cross distributed to farmers came out. FBC (Fana Broadcasting Corporate) reported on its Facebook page that Red Cross distributed fertlizers to 120 thousand farmers in Tigray.

However, HaqCheck confirmed that the Red Cross society itself stated that it donated fertlizers to 20 thousand households which are amounted to120 thousand persons in total.

Hours later, the media outlet edited the post making it to 120 thousand individuals.

Recommendations

HaqCheck urges social media users to be skeptical of such posts and be careful of scams.

We recommend media outlets to be heedful of the figures they report. They should also make quick edits and notify their audience that the information given was inaccurate.

Socil media users are always urged to be careful of false and malicies information and claims across offline and online networking sites.

Weekly summary: August week one

The week was relatively calm compared to previous weeks. However, there was a circulation of false information on social media platforms.

Here are some of the false claims debunked by HaqCheck during the first week of August.

A false image of drought in Oromia

False images were circulating on social media in the week with a claim that many people have died of starvation in Oromia due to an ongoing lockdown by the government.

These three images were also used as a thumbnail of a video on a Youtube channel with more than 900 subscribers with a title that tells aid delivery to Borranna stopped despite an ongoing drought. However, HaqCheck learned that it was taken from a video shared by EBC (Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation) on Jul 6, 2022, titled “the drought in Borena zone requires an immediate response by the Gov’t.”

One of the three images was found to be false and taken from an old publication. The first image that shows a dead body of an elderly woman was previously published on a website named The Kampala Report.

The article stated that the image shows people who died of starvation in the Karamoja region of Uganda.

Famine in the Horn of Africa

An article about ongoing extreme food shortages and famine in the Horn of African countries such as South Sudan, Somalia, and Ethiopia was published on a website. An image that shows famine-stricken infants was published along with the article.

The article on the website indicates that Vicky Ford, Minister for Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean wrote a letter responding to the correspondence of David Alton, a member of the House of the Lords of the United Kingdom, to the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office highlighting the current food shortages in the Horn of Africa.

The response letter from the State Minister to Lord David Alton was then published on a website that claims to belong to the latter. An image that shows starved infants seemingly stretching their hands for food was attached along with the letter on the website.

In spite of the ongoing drought in the Horn of Africa, the image doesn’t actually show the situation in the region. The image was found published on Flicker, an American image and video sharing online platform, on 3 June 2009.

Recommendations

HaqCheck recommends social media users cross-check information and look for the original sources of controversial claims. They should also look for fact-checks if the claim at hand is already debunked by fact-checkers.

We urge social media content creators to be responsible and avoid disinforming the populace on the platforms. They should be careful of giving unconfirmed and potentially misleading information.

Concerned authorities should avail information to both the public and the media on timely matters. Full access to information should also be secured as a basic right.

False: The image doesn’t show a person healed with traditional medicine.

A Facebook post appeared on Aug 7 2022 sharing an image that shows two pictures of a young man. The before-after pictures show a person who had a serious leg injury and was recently healed. The image was shared along with a text post that indicates that the person was healed with traditional medicine and recommends others to seek an effective indigenous medicine from the traditional doctor named Merigeta Solomon.

However, HaqCheck confirmed that the image doesn’t show a person healed with traditional medicine and urges social media users not to be victims of fraud.

Such posts with elements of scams commonly appear on social media platforms, particularly on Facebook. HaqCheck has previously fact-checked scam alerts many times.

This particular post has the character of scam messages. The post claimed that the mentioned traditional doctor offers many effective medicines for various types of illnesses, physical or spiritual. It also claimed that it has a magical medicine for people to be successful, wealthy, beautiful and have so many achievements.

According to the information on the website of the hospital, Yetbarek had a bad fracture on his right leg under his knee after his tibia broke when he was playing football. He received surgical treatment from the hospital starting in June 2019. The hospital said that Yetbarek was successfully healed and shared many pictures of him.

The image was first posted on the website of the hospital in feb 2020.

Therefore, HaqCheck confirmed that the image doesn’t prove the person in the pictures was healed with traditional medicine from the claimed traditional doctor or with any kind of indigenous medicine.

HaqCheck rated the post which also has characters of scam False and urges social media users to be skeptical of such posts and be careful of scams.

Does the image show the drought in Ethiopia [Oromia region]?

A Twitter account shared a post on Aug 2, 2022, captioned, “URGENT! HIDDEN #genocide #WeaponizedStarvation in Oromia under Command Post since 2018…” and attached three images. The image was also shared on YouTube and other two Facebook posts.

However, HaqCheck inspected the images and rendered the post Partly-False.

These three images were also used as a thumbnail of a video on a YouTube channel with more than 900 subscribers titled “Beela Gujii fi Booranaa Itti fufeera | Deeggarsi Dhaabbate | በቦረና ዞን ድርቁ የቀጠለ ቢሆንም የሚላከው ድጋፍ ቆሟል |”. The video was taken from EBC (Ethiopian broadcasting corporation) shared on Jul 6, 2022, titled “the drought in Borena zone requires an immediate response by the Gov’t.”

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One of the 20th century’s biggest humanitarian crises was Ethiopia’s famine and hunger crisis in the 1980s, which sparked a global effort to provide food aid and save lives. According to the United Nations, Ethiopia’s food shortages and hunger crises between 1983 and 1985 resulted in an estimated 1 million famine fatalities.

According to 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 produced in the backdrop 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 was shared on different Social media platforms to show the drought in the Oromia West Guji zone.

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The other image was found on different social media accounts along with other pictures to show the famine caused by the drought in Ethiopia [oromia].

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But, HaqCheck found out that one of the images used by different social media accounts doesn’t show the drought in Ethiopia [oromia].

HaqCheck found the images posted on Jul 13, 2022, on a website called The Kampala report.com Under the title “Karamoja MPs to Parliament: We do not want any more deaths from starvation.”.

Even though, there are several claims that there is a famine caused by the drought in Ethiopia’s Somali and Oromia regions, one of the images used by these different accounts is learned to be wrong.
Therefore, HaqCheck inspected the post and rendered it Partly-False.

July monthly disinformation trend analysis

HaqCheck observed that disinformation and the circulation of false information followed incidents.

There were major incidents that happened in the month of July and at the end of the month of June that triggered disinformation during the given month. False information circulated in the background of these events.

The major events that were followed by disinformation were; the massacre in Wollega in the month of June, the condominium lottery draw cancellation, the Al Shabaab attacks, the rumors on the whereabouts and safety of PM PM Abiy, and the academic dress worn by Tedros Adhanom.

haqCheck intercepted many false social media posts that were made in the context of these occurrences or just followed the incidents.

Some of the posts circulated amid such events and debunked by HaqCheck are presented in this summary.

Massacre in Wollega in the month of June

The massacre in the Wellega zone of Oromia regiona was reported in the previous month of June. However, the event was one of the main factors for the disinformation trend that surfaced during the month of July. Many related social media posts emerged in this framework. False information and images circulated on social media platforms falsely claiming old images to depict the massacre.

For instance, a Facebook page shared an image on Jul 14, captioned, “This baby is not the Rwandan Tutsi Immaculée [Immaculée Ilibagiza] … She is the Ethiopian Amhara Immaculée who survived to tell us what really happened. Abiy Ahmed and his group are killing people whom the world saved in the ‘We are the World’ campaign in 1985.”

Actually, the image is found out to be old and is of the Rwandan Tutsi genocide that happened in 1994. The image doesn’t show victims of the massacre in Wellega.

Condominium lottery draw results cancelation

The condominium lottery draw that was conducted on July 8, 2022 was later canceled due to alleged tech tampering issue. The event was followed by widespread controversies.

False claims emerged immediately after the draw. Among the viral controversies was that Muluken Haftu, former head of the City Administration’s Innovation and Technology Bureau, and Yasmin Wohabrebbi, head of the Housing Development Bureau were arrested in relation to the lottery draw fraud. The claim was later proven false.

Muluken Haftu was not arrested at the time. But on July 15, the Addis Ababa City Council revoked the immunity of its member, Mulukun Haftu in connection with alleged links with tech tampering by the city administration officials. He was taken into custody after the meeting on the same day.

Related to the incident, a false claim that Yonas Zewde, the head of the Communications Office of the Addis Ababa City Administration, resigned from his position because of widespread corruption within the current government followed.

However, the former communications head didn’t resign from his previous post and was just appointed to another position by the administration.

Al Shabaab attack on Ethiopian forces

At the end of the month of July, Al Shabaab opened attack on the security forces of the Ethiopian Somali region both in Somalian and in Ethiopian territories along the border of the two countries. Fighting then erupted between Al Shabaab militants and Somali regional special police forces.

The event was then accompanied by various false images claimed to be of the recent skirmishes between Somali regional forces and Al Shabaab militants.

One instance of these was an image-backed social media claim that Somali regional forces recently killed militants of AlShabaab in the Elekere woreda of the Somali Regional State.

Nevertheless, the image was taken from an old publication. It was first published on May 24, 2018, on a self-described independent news outlet in a short news story that heavy fighting erupted between Puntland and Somaliland forces in the Sool region of Somaliland.

Rumors on the whereabouts and safety of PM Abiy

There were various rumors circulating regarding the whereabouts and safety of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed during the month. These rumors fueled disinformation all over social media landscapes.

Many false and old images were shared with different claims. Some claimed that the Prime Minister is leading a military operation against insurgents in the southwestern parts of the country. Others claimed that he was ill and was being treated in a hospital.

The allegation was one of the major factors for massive social media disinformation.

Academic dress worn by Tedros Adhanom

There were false claims that the academic dress that was worn by Tedros Adhanom, Director of the World Health Organization when he received an honorary degree from Edinburg University represents the flag of Tigray Regional State.

Others shared images of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Indian movie actor Sha Rukh Khan, and the football legend Pele all wearing the same academic dress claiming that it represents the Tigray regional flag. Such claims were viral across social media platforms.

However, the claims were false and honorary degree recipients of the University of Edinburgh wear the scarlet gown with a yellow velvet hood according to the university’s code of gown dressing.

Hashtag Campaign and Disinformation

HaqCheck observed hashtag posts sharing false images. Employing false images in hashtag campaigns trended during the month. Hashtag themes and phrases were accompanied by false and emotionally appealing images.

For example, a Twitter account shared two images with a text that the Amhara people had been targeted by the Ethiopian government. The tweet shared graphic images that show human dead bodies laid on the ground.

It was shared with a hashtag text #AmharaGenocide. But, one of the images was from Nigeria.

Faking Twitter handles

Another disinformation technique that was pointed out by HaqCheck in the month of July is faking Twitter handles. A Twitter handle was learned to be faked using deceptive methods.

Two twitter accounts seemingly with the same handles appeared. Having or sharing the same Twitter handle with others is never allowed on the platform and thus people may be misled and challenged to identify which one is the authentic account if the two have the same handles.

The two accounts seemingly have a handle @martinplaut. However, the other one was faked to look like the authentic account. The faked handle used the capital letter of ‘i’ that looked like the small letter of ‘L’.

This was a new trend observed just recently.

Recommendations

The government should not be the main agent of disinformation and controversy. The rumors regarding the whereabouts and safety of the Prime Minister caused massive disinformation.

The government should have given timely information regarding the allegations. Government bodies should offer the public timely and sufficient updates on state affairs.

Social media users are urged to be skeptical and should avoid conceiving and sharing unconfirmed claims.

People should pay critical attention to Twitter accounts and handles. They should cross check the authenticity of the handles too.

No: The image doesn’t show a recent famine in the Horn of Africa.

An article about ongoing extreme food shortage and famine in the Horn of Africa countries such as South Sudan, Somalia, and Ethiopia was published on a website. An image that shows famine-stricken infants was incorporated into the article.

Although there are reports of drought and famine in the Horn of Africa countries, HaqCheck confirmed that the image is decade-old and doesn’t show an ongoing situation in the region.

Countries in the Horn of Africa such as Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia are experiencing a severe drought caused due to shortages of rainfall. UN agencies have been warning that millions of people could encounter hunger if the drought extends for more time.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) report published in April 2022, millions of people are facing extreme levels of hunger and malnutrition as a result of a food crisis due to ongoing conflicts, severe drought, locust plagues, and a shortfall in humanitarian funds.

OCHA stated that close to twenty million people in the region have been affected by the drought and at least seven million livestock died, 2.5 million livestock in Ethiopia alone.

Donors have also been pledging 1.39 billion dollars in funds for humanitarian and development response to the drought in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia.

The article is published in this context on the website regarding the ongoing food crisis in the Horn of Africa region.

However, it is confirmed that the image doesn’t show an ongoing food shortage crisis in the Horn of African countries.

The image was found published on Flicker, an American image and video sharing online platform on 3 June 2009. But HaqCheck has not yet found where the image was taken from and when.

Therefore, HaqCheck rated the website post Misleading due to the usage of an image that doesn’t really depict the current situation in the given region.

No: The image doesn’t show a recent public protest in Mekelle.

An image of the front page of the Reporter newspaper has been circulating with a bold headline that reads, “TPLF [Tigray People’s Liberation Front] is facing a fierce protest in Mekele of Sebaa Anderta”. Different Facebook posts shared the image across the platform.

However, HaqCheck confirmed that the image of the front page of the newspaper was manipulated and given a fake story headline. The original Amharic headline that reads, “People Were Killed due to a conflict in two neighboring zones in Amhara region” is erased and replaced by a faked headline that reads, “TPLF is facing a fierce opposition in Mekelle of Sebaa Enderta”.

There have been image-related unconfirmed claims of public protest and opposition against TPLF happening in Mekelle and other towns in Tigray. A claim that emerged on Facebook last week reported that 57 people were killed due to a conflict between the residents of Mekelle and TPLF armed units in the city. The claim explained that the clash occurred when the residents of Mekelle tried to strike a protest.

The image on the front page of the Reporter newspaper with a front-page story headline indicated that residents of Mekelle and its surroundings were protesting against TPLF and expressing their objection to the TPLF rule.

However, the image is found to be manipulated and false. The image is manipulated in two ways; first, the actual headline was erased and replaced by a fake headline for the front-page article on the publication. Secondly, two body text columns of the front-page story are deleted and replaced by an image that shows civilians and uniformed men.

The original image from which the image is manipulated is the front page of the July 13 publication of the biweekly Amharic Reporter newspaper. The original article on the top front page of the publication is titled, “People were killed in a conflict in two neighboring zones in Amhara region” and there is no picture on the page along with that particular news article. The original front page of the publication can be found here.

Therefore, HaqCheck rated the claim False due to its use of a manipulated image as proof.

Does the image show Amhara victims of the massacre in Ethiopia?

A Twitter account with more than 4 thousand followers shared two images with a descriptive text on Jul 26, captioned “Amhara people in Ethiopia every place been targeted by their identity by the genocidal government of Ethiopia.” One of the images is a graphic image of a slaughtered child and the other shows a pile of corpses of massacred people.

However, HaqCheck inspected the image and rendered the post Partly-False.

There have been various reports of ethnically targeted mass killings and massacres in West Oromia [Wollega] at different times.

On June 18, there were different reports that more than 100 people were massacred in Wollega. The government and different reports claimed that the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA)-Shane is behind the mass killings.

However, the international spokesperson of the OLA, Odda Tarbbi denied the claim that OLA soldiers conducted a massacre in Wollega, but rather that the killings were perpetrated by local militia.

The tweet is thus produced in the context of this situation.

In an effort to examine the image, HaqCheck found one of the images posted on Jul 5, 2022, on different social media platforms. All the posts related to the image reported the ethnic-based massacre in Wollega conducted on Amharas. According to our search, the image first appeared for the first time on this day claimed to picture massacred Amharas.

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However, HaqCheck discovered the other image published on Mar 12, 2018, on the website called BIAtimes.org under the headline “Nigeria: Fulani Herdsmen Invade Primary School in Ogun State Killing Children.”

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Fulani herdsmen are believed to be responsible for thousands of death in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, mostly in terror attacks committed against Christian farming communities. But the conflict is complicated: While the Fulani are Muslim, religion is only one aspect of the attacks waged in Nigeria in recent years. Fulani Herdsmen are the fourth most deadly terrorist organization and are responsible for a series of killings in Nigeria, especially against the Christians and the Nigerian Government led by President Buhari has failed to bring them to book.

According to BIAtimes.org Fulani herdsmen invade St.John’s Anglican Primary School Agodo, Ogun State Nigeria, and turned the school into a pool of the blood of innocent, little kids and students.

Even though there have been reports of massacres conducted on Amharas in Wollega, one of the images doesn’t show the atrocity committed on Amhara people in Ethiopia.
Therefore HaqCheck Analysed the post and rendered it as Partly-False.

July week four disinformation trend summary

Faked Twitter handles

One of the disinformation techniques is circulating false information with social media accounts that impersonate celebrities and popular personalities.

HaqCheck came across a faked Twitter handle creating controversies as people can easily be misled due to the similarity of the handles.

The Twitter accounts presented in the screenshots below may seem similar because they appear to have the same Twitter handle. The difference people can easily identify between these accounts is only the verification tag and the number of followers.

Twitter handles can not be the same or duplicated and every Twitter account has to be unique, according to Twitter. However, these two Twitter accounts seem to have the same handle which is @martinplaut.

The first Twitter account is created in 2010 and the second one in 2020. The second Twitter account created in 2020 faked the Twitter handle of the real and verified one.

The second Twitter account faked the handle which is @martinlaut by replacing the small letter ‘l’ in the handle with a capital letter ‘I’. This way, the two accounts resemble to have the same handle. These two letters seem the same and can only be identified by changing them into small or capital letters. They can also be identified by size. The small letter of ‘L’ is larger than the capital letter of ‘i’. When we copy-paste the two letters from the two handles and have a thorough look magnifying them, the letter ‘l’ which is ‘L’ is visibly taller than the second letter which is ‘I’.

Thus, people should pay attention to such imitation and false information circulated by accounts faked to appear as authentic ones.

A claimed public protest which occurred in Mekelle and its vicinities

HaqCheck came across a circulating image of the front page of the Reporter newspaper with a bold headline that reads that people in Mekelle are revolting against TPLF. Facebook posts shared the image across the platform.

Manipulated front-page

The image of the front page of the newspaper is learned to be manipulated from the original front page of the newspaper by giving it a fake story headline. The headline from the original front page reads, “People Were Killed due to a Conflict in Two Neighboring Zones in Amhara region”. This headline was erased and replaced by the faked headline that reads, “TPLF is Facing a Fierce Opposition in Mekelle of Sebaa Enderta”.

Original front-page

The front page image is taken from the July 13 publication of the biweekly Amharic Reporter newspaper. The original article on the top front page of the publication is titled, “People Were Killed due to a Conflict in Two Neighboring Zones in Amhara region” and there is no picture on the page accompanying that particular news article. The original front page of the publication can be found here. Accordingly, HaqCheck rated the claim False.

Old images claimed to show recent massacres

A Twitter account shared two pictures on Jul 26, 2022, captioned “Amhara people in Ethiopia every place been targeted by their identity by the genocidal government of Ethiopia.”

However, the first image in the tweet is found to be old and doesn’t show a recent massacre in Ethiopia. HaqCheck discovered one of the images published on Mar 12, 2018, on a website called BIAtimes.org under the heading “Nigeria: Fulani Herdsmen Invade Primary School in Ogun State Killing Children.”

The post was therefore rated Party-False.

Recommendations

Regarding twitter handles, HaqCheck recommends social media users look into the handles to check their authenticity. They have to search the handles on Twitter with the same letters and prove if they really exist on the platform. Some lowercase letters may look similar to other uppercase letters or vice versa.

We urge social media users to be skeptical and cross-check information as it may be false or manipulated. They should not be misled by similar accounts or manipulated images.

HaqCheck urges the government and other relevant bodies to guarantee full access to information to the public and to the media. They should avail information on timely issues.

July week three disinformation summary

Tedros Adhanom’s academic dress claimed to represent the Tigray flag

There were controversial and false claims all over social media platforms that the academic dress worn by Tedros Adhanom when he received an honorary degree from Edinburg University represents the flag of Tigray Regional State.

HaqCheck fact-checked the claim whether the academic dress represents the regional flag of Tigray. A Facebook page with more than 54 thousand followers on July shared a collection of images featuring Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Director of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom (Ph.D.), Indian movie actor Sha Rukh Khan, and the football legend Pele all wearing a similar academic dress of red gown and yellow velvet hood, implicitly telling that the red and yellow robe represents the Tigray regional flag.

The post was published after Tedros Adhanom, Director of WHO, received an Honorary Degree from the University of Edinburgh clad in a similar academic dress on Jul 14, 2022. Different social media pages have shared an image of different celebrities and influencers wearing red and yellow Gown claiming it to be the Flag of Tigray.

Many social media posts also appeared sharing images of various politicians and celebrities wearing the same academic dress in a bid to show that these renowned personalities followed Tedros’ lead of honoring Tigray by wearing the same dress.

A Facebook page with more than 138 thousand followers shared a post on Jul 16, captioned, “Indian Movie Actor Sha Rukh Khan has joined ‘The Tigray Prevails Movement’.” by the time this article is posted the post had more than 300 reactions.

Honorary degree recipients of the University of Edinburgh wear the scarlet gown with a yellow velvet hood according to the university’s code of gown dressing and has no connection with the Flag of Tigray or any movement. And the referred recipients of the University’s honorary degree, Justin Trudeau, Sha Rukh Khan, and Pele received their degrees in Jul 2017, Oct 2015, and Aug 2012 respectively, which shows they were not part of a claimed Tedros-led pro-Tigray campaign.

Therefore HaqCheck interrogated the Claim and rendered it False.

False images regarding the whereabouts of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed

False and old images were circulating during the week regarding the whereabouts of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. There were image-backed false claims. Some of the image-supported social media posts claimed that PM Abiy Ahmed went to a war front in southwestern Ethiopia to lead a military operation against insurgents.

Others claimed that the Prime Minister is ill and receiving medical treatment in a hospital. Old images had been circulating to support the claim.

However, the above image is found to be old and was even previously fact-checked by HaqCheck in January 2020. The original image can be accessed with the following link.

Somali regional forces killing Al Shabaab militants

As reports that fighting erupted between Somali regional forces and Al Shabaab militias emerged, false images started to circulate making the same claim. One of these image-backed claims was inquired by HaqCheck. A viral Facebook post appeared on June 21 sharing an image with a claim that Somali regional forces recently killed militants of AlShabaab in the Elekere woreda of the Somali Regional State. The claim stated that the Al Shabaab militias entered the Somali regional state in 14 vehicles and withdrew to the Bakool region of Somalia after they suffered a major defeat by the Somali regional special police force.

VOA reported on July 20, 2022, that fighting erupted between Al Shabaab militants and Somali regional special police forces, in areas along the Ethio-Somalia border, in the northwestern region of Bakool, within the territory of Somalia.

It is in this situational backdrop the viral report emerged claiming that military engagement recently erupted in the Somali region of Ethiopia between Al Shabaab militants and regional Somali special police force and Somali regional forces killed militants of Al Shabaab in the Elekere woreda of Somali regional state.

However, HaqCheck found out that the image used in the report was old and doesn’t show a recent military engagement between Al Shabaab militants and the Somali regional forces. The image was taken from an old publication.

The image was first published on May 24, 2018, on a site named Puntland Mirror, a self-described independent news outlet based in the city of Garowe, Puntland’s capital. It was published in a short news story that heavy fighting erupted between Puntland and Somaliland forces in the Sool region of Somaliland.

Therefore, HaqCheck rated the post False due to its use of an inaccurate image that doesn’t prove the claim.

A false image of an alleged massacre

False images had also been circulating with claims that they show victims of the massacres in different parts of the country. A Facebook page shared an image on Jul 14, claiming that the baby in the image is an Amhara who survived a recent massacre.

However, HaqCheck confirmed that the image is from Rwanda and shows a baby sitting among dead bodies during the Tutsi genocide. HaqCheck found the images in different posts at different times.

Therefore, HaqCheck has rendered it False.

Recommendations

We recommend social media users be cautious and cross-check information before they share it with others. They should look for sources of the issues to confirm the authenticity of that information.

HaqCheck urges social media content creators to avoid fabricating and circulating false information.

The government and other concerned authorities are urged to ensure full access to information to the media and the wider public and to offer timely briefings regarding controversial matters.