Fact Checks - Page 22 of 43

Weekly disinformation and controversy summary: May week two

The University of Gondar aiding the demolition of mass graves

One of the controversial issues that appeared on the Ethiopian social media platform was the report that the University of Gondar aided in removing the dead bodies of Tigrayans on which the government is alleged to commit ethnic cleansing in Welkait, an effort claimed to be disposing of evidence.

A report was published by BBC that Amhara regional authorities destructed mass graves of Tigrayans amid the UN planned investigation into violations.

The report claimed it interviewed fifteen eyewitnesses and confirmed that the dead bodies of hundreds of people were deliberately destroyed in an organized campaign to dispose of evidence of ethnic cleansing in the west of Ethiopia’s Tigray region. It stated that researchers from the university supervised the disposal of dead bodies of ethnic Tigrayans.

This counterclaim came out after a month when Amhara regional authorities claimed that with the cooperation of researchers from the University of Gondar they discovered mass graves of ethnic Amharas that were massacred by TPLF three decades ago in the areas.

The University of Gondar in a letter it wrote to BBC denied the report that its researchers aided the destruction of mass graves containing bodies of Tigrayans. It also stated that the mass graves found by its researchers a month ago were of remains of ethnic Amharas massacred by TPLF.

The journalist also claimed that she sent a letter to the university to confirm the report and didn’t get any response.

A fresh incursion by TPLF forces

Another false information that appeared on social media last week was a claim accompanied by an old and false image. HaqCheck looked into the claim that Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) forces opened a new attack in the Tigray-Amhara border areas.

The claim emerged on a Telegram channel amid fear of a fresh military engagement between the TPLF and federal-led allied forces may occur.

However, we confirmed that the image doesn’t show a new military engagement of a recent incursion by the TPLF forces. HaqCheck found out that the image was taken during the Ethio-Eritrea border war two decades ago and was published in 2019. It was used in an article written about the evolution of the Ethiopia-Eritrea relations from the border war to the recent rapprochement.

The claim was, therefore, rated FALSE.

Eritrea ousted over thirteen thousand TPLF troops in a recent battle

The image that was mentioned above was also used in this claim that Eritrea destroyed more than thirteen thousand TPLF soldiers in a recent battle provoked by TPLF.

The Facebook post claimed that it was after TPLF attacked the Eritrean army on the night of May 8, 2022, on Badme and Rama fronts.

The post emerged after a report by BBC that on May 8, Tigray forces launched a heavy artillery attack on areas bordering Eritrea.

However, the image used in the post was old and doesn’t support the claim that Eritrea demised thirteen TPLF troops during the alleged engagement spaned for a night. The image does show Eritrean army soldiers during the Ethio-Eritrea border war two decades ago. Thus, HaqCheck rendered the post ‘FALSE’.

Lake Langano being found in Gambella Regional State

A website published a report claiming that the Ethiopia’s Lake Langano is found in the Gambella Regional State.

Langano Lake is found in Oromia Regional State 200 kilometers by road south of the capital, Addis Ababa, on the border between the East Shewa Zone and Arsi Zones. It is located near the lakes of Shalla and Abijatta.

Therefore, we confirmed the lake is found in the Oromia region, not Gambella, and rated the claim False.

The Ethiopian government recently sent troops to Wollega

A Facebook post emerged in the week sharing images with a claim that the Ethiopian government recently deployed soldiers to Wollega amid heavy fighting between the government and the Oromo Liberation Army- addressed by the government as Shane.

The post shared two images to support the claim. The first image shows convoys of military Urals and the second picture shows convoys of TATA Marcopolo buses.

HaqCheck cross-checked the images and found out that one of the two images was false. We confirmed that the first image doesn’t support the claim. The image was published in February 2021 in a Facebook post report that the Ethiopian National Defence Forces (ENDF)- Western Command demonstrated its preparedness to defend the country’s sovereignty.

Recommendations

Media outlets should avoid making inaccurate reports and be responsible for delivering correct information to their respective audience.

Social media content creators and figures are urged to refrain from feeding social media platforms with false and misleading information.

The government should also ensure open and full access to information for the media and the wider public. It is recommended to avail timely and sufficient information regarding ongoing matters.

Social media users are urged to be cautious and cross-check information before they share it with others or before simply adopting it.

False: the picture doesn’t show an image of a fresh incursion by TPLF forces

A Telegram post emerged in a Telegram channel with over four thousand members claiming in a post that Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) forces opened a new attack in the Tigray-Amhara border areas.

The claim appeared amid fear of a resumption of war between the TPLF and federal-led forces.

However, HaqCheck interrogated the image and confirmed that it doesn’t show a new military engagement between the belligerents.

The protracted war between the TPLF and the federal government and its allied forces has remained unsolved.

A humanitarian truce was declared by the federal government and was also adopted by the TPLF a few months ago. This was seen as a glimmer of hope and a window of opportunity for peace talks and peaceful resettlement of the armed conflict.

There was also an unconfirmed report that Debretsion Gebremichael, TPLF chairman, and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy directly talked to one another over the phone after the truce was announced.

In audio released on YouTube, a senior military leader of the TPLF armed forces disclosed that there were direct talks and stated that he and Tadesse Werede met Birhanu Jula, chief staff of ENDF in Mauritius.

Asked, Birhanu Jula denied the claim that he met with the senior TPLF military leaders.

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 means. 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.

A week ago Prime Minister Abiy visited the ENDF forces in the town of Humera and observed its status.

Meanwhile, public conferences have been conducted in Tigray in many towns. Senior TPLF leaders including Debretsion Gebremichael, Fetleweerk Gebregziabher, Getachew Reda, and Alem Gebrewahd led the public forums and made speeches.

In a meeting in Mekelle on May 10, 2022, Debretsion Gebremichael said that the peaceful means to resolve the war has already been exhausted and called on the people to prepare for the ‘final stage’.

Reports of incursions have also appeared and there is a fear that a full military engagement may resume.

In this background, a Telegram post came out claiming that there was an incursion around the border areas between the Amhara and Tigray regional states. The post used an image in a bid to prove the claim.

However, HaqCheck confirmed that the image was old and doesn’t prove the claim. The image was taken during the Ethio-Eritrea border war two decades ago and was published in 2019. It was used in an article written about the evolution of the Ethiopia-Eritrea relations from the border war to the recent rapprochement.

The same image was also falsely used in a YouTube video released in June 2021 claiming that TPLF forces struck ‘enemy forces’.

Therefore, HaqCheck rated the claim FALSE due to the usage of an inaccurate picture.

Monthly disinformation trend analysis: April 2022

The trend of disinformation on mainstream and social media during April is observed to decline from the previous month.

The content of the controversies and false information appeared to have evolved to include issues not related to the armed conflict between the TPLF and the federal government.

Some major controversies including the Gondar inter-religious violence, and the Wolkait mass grave emerged during the month.

The information disorder trend observed by HaqCheck during April is analyzed below.

Conflicting narratives: claims and counterclaims

The trend of conflicting narratives has dominated media landscapes. As incidents occur, claims and counterclaims immediately emerge. Two or more conflicting narratives come to dominate.

It was observed that this trend has grown with intentional disinformation and misleading content.

Gonder inter-religious violence

Immediately after the Gondar violence where tens of Muslims got killed at the end of the month was reported, controversial claims and counterclaims emerged. The regional government claimed that the conflict started as a quarrel among a few people. On the other side, a counterclaim that asserts unidentified armed units were intentionally present at the funeral ceremony and instantly attacked Muslim attendants indiscriminately.

Wolkait mass grave controversy

A controversy arose after a report that the University of Gondar found mass graves of ethnic Amharas, killed and buried by the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) since 1982.

Counterclaims came out instantly alleging that the Amhara regional government was intending to clear the trace of dead bodies of ethnic Tigrayans killed by the government itself amid the decision by the UN to dispatch the independent investigative commission into human rights violations.

Misinformative and controversial contents

Misinformation content was seen at the beginning of the month. Most of these contents have had no disinformation intentions and some were false claims by interset groups.

State-affiliated media outlets reported that the American Congress decided to drop the draft bills of S3199 and HR6600.

However, later on, it was confirmed that there was no recent development of the bills after they were sent to the US Congress.

Another misinformation was observed regarding the 300 million dollar World Bank financial support to Ethiopia. Instantly, some reported that the support was a loan and some stated that it was a grant.

It was however checked that the fund was a grant to Ethiopia to help the country deal with the aftermath of conflict.

In the middle of the month, Balderas Party and others claimed that Addis Ababa City Administration decided to demolish the compounds of the Lion Pharmacy and Neon Addis found in Piassa and the lots are going to be given to business people affiliated with the government.

Later on, a news outlet came up with a report that the compounds will not be demolished and are going to be renovated without damaging them.

Image-supported false claims

For some years the information disorder on social media has been mainly dominated by image-backed claims and counterclaims. This trend has recently lessened.

However, the use of false images to support a claim has not ceased. Image-supported false claims appeared on social media in April.

HaqCheck fact-checked an image-backed Facebook post claiming that public places in the Lemi Kura sub-city, Addis Ababa were being grabbed and plowed.

The image was taken from an old online publication in May 2019 along with an article alleging that football fields were becoming farms in the city.

A Facebook claim with an image that the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) captured many soldiers belonging to the Ethiopian government was another image supported disinformation piece.

HaqCheck checked the image and confirmed that the image appeared first on a Facebook post published on Jul 4, 2021.

The conflict between OLA and the government had been one major source of online information disorder. Many images appeared supporting claims regarding the conflict between the belligerents.

Additionally, an image-backed post claimed that an OLF-Shane soldier was arrested by Fano in Shoa.

HaqCheck investigated the image and found out that the image was first posted on Feb 12, 2022, on Facebook reporting that the government was imprisoning innocent civilians in Oromia.

Recycling old information and claims

The trend of presenting old information and false claims were observed during April. Posts used old reports to convince or mislead people that the information is new.

On Apr 18, a claim presenting a screenshot of a tweet appeared alleging that Eritrea recently agreed to withdraw its troops from Ethiopia’s Tigray Regional State. The screenshot was taken from a tweet made by Reuters last year.

The information was old. Eritrea agreed to withdraw soldiers from Ethiopia a year ago and as reported by Reuters.

A Facebook post appeared on Apr 25, sharing a screenshot of a tweet that reads, “Rwandan President Paul Kagame called on the Biden administration and the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to directly intervene in the disputed Tigray region in Ethiopia.”

The tweet from which the screenshot was captured was made last year falsely claiming that the President demanded the US and UNSC direct intervention in Ethiopia.

Recommendations

Social media content creators should be responsible and refrain from circulating false information.

We recommend the government offer the media and public timely and sufficient information and open access to information should be ensured.

Social media users are urged to be cautious and need to cross-check claims and reports.

Political parties, media outlets, government offices, and any other interest group entities should not provide false information.

May week one disinformation and controversy summary

Last week’s social media disinformation trend was relatively low. There was no major controversial and disinformation content on the social and mainstream media during the week.

However, here are some of the controversial and false claims tracked by HaqCheck last week.

Captured Italian soldiers

HaqCheck came across an image-backed post on Facebook on May 3, that claims the picture in the post shows Italian soldiers who surrendered to the Ethiopian army in the battle of Adwa thirteen decades ago.

The image portrays a black soldier guarding a group of white soldiers.

The Facebook post was viral and was shared over three hundred times.

The post was made two days before the 81st commemoration of the Ethiopian Patriots Day celebrated on May 5, 2022. The day marks the end of the secons Italian invasion of Ethiopia and the arrival of Emperor Haile Selassie from exile in Addis Ababa on May 5, 1941.

However, HaqCheck interrogated and confirmed that the image doesn’t prove the claim. It doesn’t show Italian troops who surrendered to Ethiopians in the battle. The same image was also fact-checked by HaqCheck last year.

Our fact-checking revealed that the image, taken in April 1945 was published on various sites including Encyclopedia. The sites state that the image shows a black American soldier of the 12th Armored Division guarding over a group of Nazi war prisoners captured in a forest in Germany during WWII. Therefore, HaqCheck rendered the claim FALSE due to the usage of an inaccurate image.

OFC’s controversial claim that Fano burned mosques in Fnote Selam

The Oromo Federalist Congress issued a press statement last week on May 1, 2022, and reported that Fano, (an Amhara volunteer youth militia) burned mosques in Finote Selam, a town in the West Gojjam Zone of Amhara regional state.

Finote Selam: the first version of the OFC statement

Debark: an edited version of OFC’s statement

The claim by the political party that Fano recently burned mosques in the town of Finote Selam was followed by a counterclaim that refutes the information was false.

The Amhara regional communications office published a social media article and announced the claim by OFC was not true. The communication office reported that it contacted the deputy Imam of the Selam Mosque in the town and confirmed the claim was false.

A few minutes later after the statement was released by Amhara Communications, OFC edited the press release and changed the name of the place from Finote Selam to Debark. Anyone can check the editing history of the press statement on Facebook.

Recommendations

HaqCheck recommends social media users cross-check information they come across on social media platforms before they react or share it with others. They should be cautious of claims and counterclaims on social media.

They should also look for editing histories of social media posts, particularly on Facebook. It is advised to read the whole information to sort out what exactly is the claim when they see posts.

We urge social media users and other entities to look for fact-checks done by fact-checking outlets.

Political parties and figures are urged to be responsible and abstain from disseminating false information. The government should also open up information access to the media and the public and give timely and sufficient information to prevent or reduce tendencies of disinformation.

False: The image doesn’t show Italian troops surrendered to Ethiopia during the Battle of Adwa

An image was shared on May 3, 2022, on Facebook along with a text description that claims the picture to show Italian soldiers who surrendered to the Ethiopian army in the battle of Adwa.

The Facebook post was popular and was shared over three hundred times.

The same image was also fact-checked by HaqCheck last year.

However, HaqCheck interrogated the image and confirmed that the picture doesn’t support the claim. Therefore, the claim was rated FALSE.

The Battle of Adwa was a military confrontation between the Italian and Ethiopian army under the leadership of Emperor Menelik II on Mar 1, 1896. The one-day battle was near the present-day Adwa town in northern Ethiopia.

The Italian army advanced southwards from Eritrea to takeover Ethiopia as an Italian colony.

The Italian army led by General Oreste Baratieri was defeated by the Ethiopian troops.

Consequently, many Italian soldiers and askaris were killed and captured during the battle.

The post was made two days before the 81th commemoration of the Ethiopian Patriots Day celebrated on May 5, 2022. The day marks the end of the Italian occupation of Ethiopia and the arrival of Emperor Haile Selassie from exile in Addis Ababa on May 5, 1941.

In this context appeared the image-backed post claiming that the soldiers in the picture were Italian troops who surrendered to the Ethiopian army in the Battle of Adwa.

However, HaqCheck investigated the image and proved that the picture doesn’t show Italian troops who surrendered to Ethiopians during the battle.

The image, taken in April 1945 has been published on various sites including Encyclopedia. The sites state that the image shows a black American soldier of the 12th Armored Division guarding over a group of Nazi war prisoners captured in a forest in Germany during WWII. Therefore, HaqCheck rendered the claim FALSE due to the usage of an inaccurate image.

April: week four disinformation trend summary

Last week, the Ethiopian social media landscape was dominated by controversies and false claims regarding the inter-religious conflict and violence in Gondar and other areas.

The incident was a source of controversy and false claims mainly on social media.

Two lines of the narrative

The first controversy that came out was about the cause of the conflict in Gondar. The Amhara Media Corporation reported that the conflict arose after the funeral ceremony when attendants of the burial took stones from a nearby church.

The second claim regarding the starting of the inter-religious conflict came out instantly. The Amhara Islamic Affairs High Council issued a statement and stated that the conflict occurred when armed people reach the burial place before the dead body reached there and they prevented the corpse would not rest in the particular place. It claimed that the people armed with heavy weapons came from other areas and reached the burial place which is a mosque before the attendants even reached there.

Media reports that supported the second line of the story had also been made.

A controversial image used by the Guardian

The Guardian released a news article in which it used a controversial image. The image shows a woman with a child. The article was about Tigrayan ethnic cleansing from Humera and Welkait.

After the article was issued, claims appeared that the image doesn’t show Tigrayans that were ethnically cleansed from the mentioned area. Many claimed that the image was taken from the Sekota areas and shows displaced people of the Agew people amid the war between the TPLF and the federal-allied government.

However, the media house replaced the image with another one later on.

Paul Kagame called for UNSC and USA direct intervention in Ethiopia

A social media claim appeared last week that the Rwandan President Paul Kagame recently called for the United Nations Security Council and the US to directly intervene in Ethiopia to end the Tigray war. The Facebook post used a screenshot of a tweet to mislead readers. The screenshot itself was taken from a tweet made a year ago.

The same claim appeared last year that Kagame called upon the US and UNSC to directly interfere in Ethiopia to end the armed conflict in Tigray. This claim was later proven false.

Thus, the Facebook post screenshotted the tweet and posted pretending that the information was recent.

Therefore, HaqCheck investigated the claim and confirmed that the screenshot was taken from a tweet made a year ago and the claim was false.

Captured OLA troop

There was a Facebook post sharing an image claiming that it shows a captured OLA soldier. The image shows many people in army uniforms and a uniformed roped man.

However, HaqCheck confirmed that the image doesn’t prove the claim that the man on the image was a recently captured OLA soldier. The image was posted on Feb 12, 2022, with a description that Oromia police imprisoned many innocent Oromos who were suspected of having a connection to the OLA.

Altered image shared on Facebook

An image of an active Muslim rights activist was shared on Facebook that shows a man standing holding high a paper that reads, “We the extremist Muslims are the perpetrators in the Gondar conflict.”

The post was made with the intention that extremist Muslims were accountable for the inter-religious violence in Gondar.

HaqCheck’s reverse image check found out that the image was altered. The original image was posted on Apr 8, 2022, and the text on the paper reads, “Our faith is our soul; our education is our body.”

Thus, HaqCheck rated the claim Altered.

Recommendations

We recommend that social media users should always be cautious and skeptical of information and claims on social media. They should check original sources of information and crosscheck claims.

HaqCheck urges social media content creators to abstain from composing and circulating false information across platforms. They should be responsible that their social media posts may cause offline violence.

The government and respective government bodies are also urged to give sufficient and updated information regarding issues on controversies.

HaqCheck also recommends media outlets use accurate images when publishing content and provide images with proper descriptions.

Altered: the image doesn’t show a message on a sign about the recent conflict in Gondar

A Facebook page with more than 16,600 followers on Apr 27, posted an image of a man holding high, a sign on which a text in Amharic reads, “We the extremist Muslims are the perpetrators in the Gondar conflict.”

The caption of the post says, “Swallow the truth!! The distance traveled to hit the church would not be profitable. Extremist Muslims you better stay down. The problem is created by extremists, not by the real Gondar Muslims and peaceful Gondar Christians.” There is also a link attached that leads to a YouTube Channel.

The post has been shared more than 250 times in less than 24 hours.

HaqCheck looked into the image and confirmed it is Altered.

On April 26 a conflict broke out in Gonder city, Amhara region, at the funeral of Sheik Kamal Legas, a prominent local Sheik in the city. According to reports coming out, a group of people reportedly attacked Muslim mourners, forbidding them to collect rocks for the Sheik’s graveyard from an Orthodox church compound located next to a mosque.

Desalegn Tasew, head of the Amhara Regional State Peace and Security Bureau said in a statement, “…The conflict that started between individuals with a different mission was outgrown and exacerbated into group conflict…”.

The Amhara Regional Islamic Affairs High Council said more than 20 people have been killed and more than 150 injured in clashes at the Sheik Elias Cemetery in Gondar, according to a report by BBC Amharic.

Following the incident, many Muslims have been protesting and asking for justice in different parts of the country. Most of the protestors were seen holding signs and slogans written on paper. The Facebook claim was posted taking advantage of this context.

However, HaqCheck did a reverse image search of the image and found the image to be altered. The original image was first posted on April 8 by a Facebook page of Mujib Amino, a Muslim public figure with over 268,600 Facebook followers. The text written on the sign reads “Our faith is our soul; Our education is our body!” The picture was taken during the time when there were protests against an alleged ban of Solat (prayer) in some schools in Addis Ababa.

HaqCheck also took a closer look at the image and observed the dissimilarity of the color grading between the text and the paper coupled with the mismatch of curvature between the text lines and the paper edges, which clearly hints at the possibility of the image’s alteration.

Due to the above reasons, HaqCheck rated the image in the Facebook post ALTERED.

FALSE: Rwandan President Kagame didn’t call for America and UNSC’s direct intervention in Ethiopia.

The post opined that the Rwandan president broke the silence and thanked him for calling the US and UNSC’s direct intervention in Ethiopia. It also calls on readers to share the post with others so that the information can reach many more. The post was viral and shared more than 64 times.

However, HaqCheck confirmed that Paul Kagame did not call for America and UNSC’s direct intervention in Ethiopia, and the screenshot was taken from a tweet made a year ago.

The armed conflict between the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) and the federal government of Ethiopia broke out in November 2020. Eritrea had been on the side of the Ethiopian government.

There were campaigns that called for the US and UNSC intervention in Ethiopia. Many also called for more effective UNSC involvement in Ethiopia.

On Apr 14, 2022, the UNSC discussed the situation in Ethiopia under the ‘any other business’ meeting category. The meeting was requested by three African countries; Gabon, Ghana, and Kenya which currently are non-permanent members of the Council.

Based on this background, the Facebook post came out claiming that the Rwandan President recently called on the US and UNSC to directly intervene in Ethiopia.

It presented a tweet screenshot misleading people into believing that it was recent.

The screenshot was taken from a tweet made on Feb 16, 2021, which is 14 months ago.

During an interview with the Hoover Institution on Feb 3, 2021, Rwandan President Kagame called on the US and the United Nations to collaborate and engage Africans in solving conflicts including the Tigray armed conflict in Ethiopia.

He did not call for a US and UNSC direct intervention in Ethiopia. He only recommended a concerted effort among the US, UN, Africans, and others to solve Ethiopia’s armed conflict.

Therefore, HaqCheck confirmed that Paul Kagame did not demand American and UNSC direct intervention to solve Ethiopia’s armed conflict. The screenshot was also taken from a tweet made a year ago.

In this regard, HaqCheck rendered the post FALSE.

MISLEADING: Eritrea didn’t recently agree to withdraw troops

On Apr 18, a misleading claim appeared alleging that Eritrea recently agreed to withdraw its troops from Ethiopia’s Tigray Regional State.

A screenshot of the news was shared with a text in Amharic that reads, “We are getting close to the beginning of the end. There will be no better time than this for those who claim to fight for the cause of Oromia.” Many people reacted to the post and it was shared on the platform over six times.

However, HaqCheck investigated the matter and found out that the news was from a year ago published on Reuters.

There has been an armed conflict between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Ethiopian government since Nov 3, 2020.

The Eritrean government had also been involved in the armed conflict on the side of the federal government of Ethiopia. There have been repeated calls from the international communities to withdraw its troops from the Tigray regional state.

Recently the Ethiopian government and TPLF agreed upon a humanitarian truce. Since then, humanitarian aid has been reported to enter Tigray after months.

In this context, a misleading Facebook post appeared claiming that Eritrea recently agreed to begin withdrawing troops from areas of the Tigray Regional State. The post didn’t say the claim directly but rather misled people into understanding that Eritrea is pulling back its soldiers from Ethiopia.

However, the referred news that Eritrea agreed to withdraw soldiers from Ethiopia is old. The screenshot of the news by Reuters was taken a year ago.

On Apr 16, 2021, Eritrea, in a letter written to the United Nations Security Council, admitted its troops are found in Ethiopia and agreed to start withdrawing from the Tigray region. The news was then published among others by Reuters. But the Facebook post presented a screenshot of the news, deceiving people that the news was recent.Therefore, HaqCheck rated the claim MISLEADING.

Does the image show an OLA soldier recently captured by Fano militias in Shoa?

“This is an OLF-Shane soldier spared from execution and is caught by the lions of the Shoa Fano,” reads a post on a Facebook page with more than 24 thousand followers on April 19, 2022.

The post got over 2 thousand reactions and had been shared over 300 times by the time this article was published.

HaqCheck examined the image and declared it False.

Fano is an Amhara youth volunteering to defend the country.

There were different claims that OLF-Shane is attacking villages in different areas of the Amhara region. Social media posts were surfacing regarding OLF-Shane’s attack in Shewa Robit town in north-central Ethiopia located in the Semien Shoa zone of the Amhara Regional State.

According to the reports, the alleged clashes took place on the road from Shewa Robit to Dessie, at the village of Molale, home to more than 10,000 people, which was completely burnt down by OLF-Shane militants.

OLF militias opened gunfire at Shewa Robit Link

Authorities and residents of the area said armed men opened fire causing harm on residents and properties in the Northern Shoa Zone, Ephrata and Gidim Woreda of the Amhara region, as well as in Kewat and Shewarobit areas. link

Amid this situation, another Facebook post by a renowned politician appeared captioned, “The government-backed terrorist group OLF-Shane is carrying out large-scale attacks around Shewa Robit.”

The Oromia Regional State, on its part, disclosed in a statement on Apr 20, that the campaign of eliminating OLF-Shane will continue in a coordinated way. The regional government also stressed that the heinous acts the group is carrying out on the Oromo people testify that it doesn’t have any political objective or goal. Moreover, it was noted that some youth members of the group who accepted the call for peace are surrendering.

The image was also shared on different Facebook and Twitter pages with the same intention of showing an OLF-Shane soldier being surrendered by the Fano militias.

HaqCheck investigated the image and found out that the image was posted on Feb 12, 2022, on a Facebook account with Afaan Oromo language captioned, “prisoning and beating the heroes of many Oromo people in different regions of Oromia… Comrade Abdi Oromo and Oromo nationalists in different parts of Oromo are taken to prison. If they are not released immediately, take action and the attack on cabinets and cadres of Zones and Federal government will be acceptable.”

In the image is pictured a soldier with braided hair suspected to be a member of OLF-Shane hand-tied and surrounded by the Oromia special forces.

The soldiers behind the captive wore the Oromia special forces uniform and held beret hat which is used by the Oromia special forces.

Even though there are several claims about the conflict happening in the Shewa Robit town between the Amhara Fano and the OLF-Shane forces, the image used to support the claim by the Facebook and Twitter pages is proved to be incorrect.

Thus, HaqCheck inspected the image and manifested it as False.