Old photos of pro-government rally used to claim anti-government protest in northern Ethiopia

A Facebook post in Amharic published on August 2, 2023 and translated to English, reads: “Public protests have already been held this morning in this manner in Debre Tabor. Other cities in Amhara should also carry out similar movements and give backing to Fano”.

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Screenshot of the false post, taken on August 4, 2023

The post has been shared more than 80 times.

Fano is a paramilitary youth group active in the Amhara region and currently fighting against Ethiopian troops.

The post includes a collage of three different images depicting the same scene. The photos show a large crowd of people on a street, most of them carrying sticks.

On August 4, 2023, Ethiopia declared a state of emergency in Amhara following a request by the region’s leaders (archived here).

It followed reported clashes between Ethiopian military and Fano fighters in Debre Tabor in the South Gonder zone (archived here).

However, the photos do not show recent events in Amhara.

Tigray war

AFP Fact Check conducted reverse image searches and established that the photos showed youth mobilised to fight alongside the Ethiopian army during the Tigray war in August 2021 in Debre Tabor.

The three photos together were originally published on the official Facebook page of Debre Tabor’s city administration more than two years ago, on August 2, 2021 (archived here).

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Screenshot of the original post, taken on August 4, 2023

Translated, the Amharic text accompanying the photos reads: “Earlier today the youth group from Debre Tabor city led to the war front, rallying behind the defence forces, special forces and militias by using modern and traditional weapons such as swords, axes, lances and others.”

The photos thus depict the city’s youth backing government operations during the two-year-long war in the Tigray region, which was ended through a peace deal in November 2022 – not anti-government protests in August 2023.