The post includes a 47-second-long video revealing what seem caught Ethiopian soldiers strolling in file.
The Facebook pages that released the claim regularly share stories about Fano.
Armed disputes
The Ethiopian army is battling rebel forces in both Oromia and Amhara – the 2 most populated areas in the nation.
The Oromo Freedom Army (OLA), a rebel force (archived here) operating in the Oromia area, used up arms in 2018, implicating the Ethiopian federal government of not being devoted to an authentic democratic shift throughout the early duration of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s guideline.
On The Other Hand, Fano, a militia group (archived here) in the Amhara area, was among the crucial allies of the Abiy federal government throughout the 2 years of the Tigray war which ended in November 2022. The militia group turned versus the federal government in July 2023 following its choice to deactivate all local forces.
On Might 15, 2024, the United States ambassador to Ethiopia, Ervin Massinga, called (archived here) for a “transparent transitional justice procedure” to resolve reports of extrajudicial killings, approximate detentions, sexual violence and other abuses in numerous parts of the nation.
The Ethiopian federal government criticised the ambassador’s speech, stating it was “inexpedient and includes uninformed assertions”.
In early Might, regional media provided (archived here) video presumably revealing federal government soldiers caught throughout current battling in North Shewa in Amhara.
Nevertheless, the video shared on Facebook doesn’t reveal federal government soldiers caught by Fano in the Amhara area.
OLA fighters
AFP Truth Inspect utilized the video confirmation tool InVID-WeVerify to carry out reverse image searches on keyframes from the video.
The search engine result led us to a somewhat longer variation of the video (archived here) that was shared on Facebook on April 4, 2024.
The initial video is a minute and 10 seconds long, and is captioned “Ethiopian federal government captive soldiers”.
The Facebook account that initially released the video regularly shares stories about OLA and its operations in the Oromia area.
Oromia National Media (ONM), an online media outlet associated with the OLA, reported on the exact same date – April 4, 2024 – that the rebels had actually presumably introduced an attack on the federal government army in the southwestern Shoa zone in Oromia, eliminating and recording many federal government soldiers.
A closer assessment of the initial video reveals that the very first 20 seconds were erased before it was shared in the deceptive Facebook posts.
In this erased part, an armed fighter with dreadlocks can be seen securing the males using Ethiopian Defense Force fight uniforms.
Dreadlocks are the normal hairdo of Oromo rebels. In addition, the guy is using an indication that signifies OLA fighters: a red and green piece of fabric – the colors of the OLA flag – over his camouflage print uniform.
The initial video likewise includes background music applauding the OLA battle in Afaan Oromoo. This tune was left out from the modified video.