A Facebook page with over 90 thousand followers shared a post on July 27, 2023, claiming that Ethiopian army troops entered Shewa Yifat, an area in the Amhara regional state, to disarm Fano militia groups and were defeated and retreated abandoning weapons.
This image was also published along with similar claims (here, and here).
At the time this article was published, the post had more than a hundred reactions.
However, HaqCheck inspected the image and found it to be old. Thus, the claim was rendered False.
Upon the announcement of the dissolution of regional special police forces, tensions arose in the Amhara regional state.
Armed confrontations, clashes, and public protests have occurred in the Amhara region protesting the federal government’s decision to disband regional special police forces.
Media reports indicate widespread instability in the region including armed clashes and killing in many areas.
Recent social media reports claim that a conflict broke out in Gondar and several people died as a result.
Following the incident, other social media posts claimed that the federal government of Ethiopia was deploying troops to places in the Gondar zones.
The claim that Ethiopian army troops entered Shewa Yifat to disarm Fano militia groups and were defeated and retreated abandoning weapons emerged in this context.
To verify the image, HaqCheck used a Google reverse image search and found it previously shared on a website and on Twitter on Jan 1, 2023.
The image was shared on Twitter with a caption, “Once again, without spending a single penny, the Congolese Revolutionary Army (ARC/M23) acquires brand new equipment abandoned by the diabolical coalition [of] FARDC, FDLR, APCLS, NYATURA, PARECO, CODECO, [and] NDC-RENOVÉ.”
The picture used in the claim was cropped out of an image previously published on other platforms.
Granted that there has been an ongoing conflict and instability in the Amhara regional state of Ethiopia, the image used in the Facebook post doesn’t support the claim that Fano militants captured weapons from Ethiopian army troops. Therefore, HaqCheck rated the claim as False.
