Ethiopia

The image is of a wildfire in Wof Washa forest, Amhara region. — This image on Facebook claiming to be of Eritrean forces burning forests in Tigray in March 2023 is FALSE. “Breaking news: A media called Tigray Today posted that the Eritrean forces are burning Tigray’s forests on both ends,” reads the post in Afaan Oromo. It is accompanied by an image.

The signs have been there for a long time. Massacres and persecution of Amhara. Shooting and teargassing people while they attend church. Attacking people while they celebrate Adwa Day… And when you have a mayor of a capital city who makes irresponsible remarks, who claimed that “a large migration” into…

The image is of a boy drinking from a puddle in a degraded area of Kakamega, Kenya. — A Facebook post purporting to show a boy drinking from a puddle in the drought-affected Borana zone in the Oromia region of Ethiopia is FALSE. The post, in Amharic, was shared on 28 February 2023 and loosely translates as; “Oromo Peoples’ Democratic Organization (OPDO), which caused the people of Borena…

The photo has been online since 2020. — A TikTok video shared on Twitter claiming to show a torture victim in the Gurage zone of Ethiopia in 2023 is FALSE. The video is accompanied by a text that reads: “Government forces are torturing #gurage [ethnic Gurage] youths in such horrific ways. Medias, other responsible bodies y’all need to…

The photo has been online since 2022. — A Facebook post with an image supposedly of a puddle in Ethiopia’s drought-affected Borana zone in 2023 is FALSE. The photo is accompanied by a text in Amharic, loosely translated as; “I know that you can do all things, no purpose of yours can be thwarted. We thank God for…

Debretsion appeared on Dimtsi Weyane Television after the claim was made. — This YouTube video claiming Tigray region president Debretsion Gebremichael had been killed by his guards has a FALSE HEADLINE. The headline, in Amharic, translates to; “Breaking news. Debretsion was killed. Heavy shooting started at Mekelle. A new war on the Defence Force.”

The headline is clickbait as there is no mention of the artiste in the video. — A YouTube video claiming to have news of Oromo singer Ittiiqaa Tafarii joining the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) has a FALSE HEADLINE. The video was posted on 22 February 2023 with an Afaan Oromo headline loosely translates to; “Artist Ittiiqaa Tafarii has joined the Oromo Liberation Army and you can…

The seat of power and no power. — He was born Sahle Miriam, but assumed the name Emperor Menelik II upon his coronation on November 3, 1889. One of Ethiopia’s greatest rulers, he expanded the empire almost to its present-day borders, repelled an Italian invasion in the Battle of Adwa in 1896, and carried out a wide-ranging program of modernization. Word reached him about America’s exciting new means of executing criminals – the electric chair.

The photos are unrelated to the demolition of houses in 2023 — Twitter posts here, here, and here with images purportedly of Amhara-owned houses demolished by the Addis Ababa city administration are FALSE. The first tweet reads: “Residents living in the outskirts of Addis Ababa are being displaced and houses are torn down by the current @prosperity2022 by the direct order of…