Old photo from Tigray showing hungry Ethiopian troops falsely linked to recent conflict in Amhara

The post, written in Amharic, was published on Facebook on August 6, 2023 and has been shared more than 190 times.

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Screenshot of the misleading post, taken on August 7, 2023

“The army is collapsing for lack of food. They get food and water only when they are captured,” reads part of the post, adding that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was desperately clinging to power in the Amhara region.

The post includes a photo of a civilian feeding a man in military uniform lying on a blanket on the ground. Another man in uniform is lying next to him.

Their uniforms are similar to those worn by Ethiopian troops.

A day before the post was published, Ethiopian authorities arrested (archived here) individuals that they accused of being part of the escalating conflict in the Amhara region. Earlier, the Ethiopian Council of Ministers imposed a state of emergency in the region (archived here) to quell the violence.

The paramilitary group known as Fano, which is fighting against federal forces in the region over a decision to disarm them, is in control of three major towns (archived here), according to residents.

The same photo posted here also claims “Amhara people are taking care of the captured defence troops in this way”, in Amharic.

However, the image is unrelated to the regional conflict currently taking place in Amhara.

Christmas wishes

AFP Fact Check conducted reverse image searches and established that the photo was already being shared a year ago during the war between the Ethiopian army and forces from the Tigray region, which borders Amhara to the north.

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Screenshot of the original post, taken on August 7, 2023

It was published on X, formerly Twitter, on January 7, 2022 (archived here).

“Happy Christmas to our dedicated heroes who are falling in the forest for the sake of our freedom, security and peace and for defending mother land Ethiopia’s sovereignty,” reads the post, which was written in Amharic.

The account responsible for the post has more than 46,000 followers and regularly shares pro-government messages.

A similar post on X was published here on the same day.

The timing of the original posts coincides with the war in Tigray that ended in November 2022. They were also posted during Ethiopian Christmas, which is usually celebrated in January according to the local calendar.