A Twitter account with more than six thousand followers shared an image on May 2, 2023, claiming that the Ethiopian defense soldiers were routed and captured by armed militias in Amhara region in a recent confrontation.
By the time this article was published, the post had nearly 15 thousand views, 135 retweets, and 360 reactions.
However, HaqCheck inspected the image and confirmed that it was old. It rendered the claim False.
On Apr 6, 2023, the Ethiopian federal government announced that it had decided that regional special police forces should be dissolved and integrated into the Ethiopian National Defence Forces, the Federal Police, or into regional polices.
Upon the announcement of the dissolution of regional paramilitary forces, tensions arose in the Amhara regional state. There have been armed clashes and public protests in the region opposing the federal government’s decision to disestablish regional special police forces.
On Mar 31, 2023, Teshome Toga, the National Rehabilitation Commissioner, said that the Commission conducted consultation across the country including in the Amhara region regarding the dissolution and reintegration of regional special police forces.
Amid the crisis, Girma Yeshitla, the head of the Amhara Prosperity Party was killed. The Ethiopian federal government and the Amhara regional government accused armed militias, commonly known as Fano, of assassinating the senior party official and vowed to take serious measures.
There were unconfirmed social media reports that the government deployed armed forces in the Amhara regional state and armed confrontations in various areas in the region.
Against this backdrop, a claim emerged on Twitter sharing an image with a claim that the alleged deployed Ethiopian troops were routed and captured by armed militias in Amhara region in recent confrontations.
HaqCheck looked into the image to investigate the claim. As a result, We found out that the image was old and has no connection with the claim.
The image was first published on the Internet since 2020 and shows Ethiopian troops marching into Tigray during the war between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
Therefore, HaqCheck rated the claim as False due to the usage of an inaccurate image.
