A Facebook Account published a video on October 28, 2021. The Video’s Amharic description reads, “Abiy Ahmed and Daniel Kibret cannonading in Wollo and Dessie using city residents as a shield with an intention of causing civilian massacre…”.
Until this article was published, the post had been shared more than 99 times and with 3000 views. However, the video in the Facebook post doesn’t show the claimed cannonade in Dessie, and the post is rendered False.
Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) forces and the Federal Government of Ethiopia have been an inactive war in Northern Ethiopia Since November 2020.
At the end of June 2021, the federal government declared a sudden unilateral ceasefire and pulled out its troops from Tigray after a request from the provisional government of the region.
Reports of fresh military offensives and counter-offensives have reportedly aggravated recently. The Federal government has launched airstrikes repeatedly since mid-October.
Recently the war has widened its scope. It is being reported that the TPLF is still continuing its expansion towards the neighboring Amhara Regional State, and particularly to the Southern parts of Wollo province. Dessie is a metropolitan city located in the South Wollo Zone.
Given its political and strategic importance, the City is eyed by the TPLF as a key target through its expansion in Wollo, which would give it a significant stronghold. Media outlets reported that there is still an active war around Dessie.
The Facebook post was circulating amid this situation.
However, a reverse image search of screenshots from the video revealed that the video is neither from Ethiopia nor shows a recent incident in the country. The footage found shows a “Rehearsal for the victory parade 2016” in Novosibirsk, a city in Siberia, southern Russia, on May 9, 2016, dated even before the war began. Therefore, the post is confirmed to be False.
