A Facebook page with more than 50 thousand followers published a post on Apr 11, 2023, claiming that a building was demolished and many civilians were injured as a result of heavy artillery fires by the Oromo Liberation Front [the Ethiopian National Defence Forces] in Bahir Dar, Amhara region.
The post used two images to support the claim. The first image shows a heavily damaged edifice and the second shows a rising dark smoke.
By the time this article was published, the post received many reactions and was shared eight times on the platform.
However, HaqCheck confirmed that one of the images was old and doesn’t prove the claim. Thus, the post was rated Partly-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 regional police.
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 Amhara region regarding dissolution and reintegration of regional special police forces.
Thereafter, claims that the federal government was planning to disarm and disband only the Amhara special police force and the Oromia special police police would not be dissolved.
HaqCheck cross-checked if the images were authentic and found out that one of the images was taken from an old publication.
The first image in the post which shows a heavily damaged building was first published by CNN on Feb 26, 2022. Accordingly, the image shows a building in Ukraine smashed by a heavy Russian barrage.
The second image was posted by a local media outlet on Facebook on Apr 11, 2023, and shows burning tires on the streets of Bahir Dar in a protest.
Despite the fact that there have been ongoing protests and clashes in Amhara region, the first image doesn’t show a building demolished in Bahir Dar.Therefore, HaqCheck rendered the post Partly-False.
