A Facebook post and a Twitter account respectively on Dec 3 and 4, 2022, shared an image with a claim that it shows dead bodies of recently killed people in Wollega, Oromia. The Facebook post claimed that the victims were ethnic Amharas who live in Wollega while the Twitter post alleged that the victims were Oromo farmers killed by Amhara armed forces in Wollega.
The two posts were viral on the respective platforms and got many reactions.
However, HaqCheck confirmed that the image doesn’t show people recently killed in Wollega. Therefore, the image-backed claim made on Facebook and Twitter was rated False.
Reports indicate that there has been an armed conflict between the Ethiopian government and Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), an armed group that is addressed by the government as Shene.
There were recurrent conflicts and violence in Wollega, Oromia. Many civilians including ethnic Amharas and Oromos were killed in the area.
The government blamed OLF-Shene for the killings while the armed organization accused the government of targeting and killing civilians.
Armed fighting was recently reported along the border areas between the Amhara and Oromia regional states.
Addis Standard, a local news outlet stated on Dec 3, 2022, that Amhara militants (Fano) killed dozens of people in the Kiremu district of the East Wollega zone on Nov 25 and 29, 2022.
It was in this context that the two social media posts emerged on Facebook and Twitter sharing an image with a claim that the picture shows dead bodies of recently killed people in Wollega, Oromia.
The Facebook post alleged that the victims were ethnic Amharas who live in Wollega while the Twitter post claimed that the picture shows Oromo farmers recently killed by Amhara armed forces in Wollega.
Both the Facebook post and the Tweet used the same image to support their respective claims.
However, HaqCheck investigated the claim and confirmed that the image doesn’t belong to ethnic Amhara or Oromos recently killed in Wollega.
The image used to back the opposing claims was old and taken from a social media post made on Sep 20, 2022. It was published along with a short article that alleges ethnic Amharas were being killed in Wollega.Therefore, HaqCheck rendered the claim False.
