Video falsely claims Ethiopian ex-army chief urged port takeover if war breaks out

The headline of the Amharic post shared on Facebook on November 2, 2025, reads: “I do not want the war to begin. If the war starts, the Ethiopian army’s operation will not be limited to occupying Assab.”

The post attributes the statement to Samora, who served as head of Ethiopia’s army from 2001 to 2018.

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Screenshot of the false post, taken on November 5, 2025 

 Assab is a port city in Eritrea, located on the western coast of the Red Sea.

The post, widely spread by Ethiopian government supporters here and here, contains a seven-minute video in which Samora is seen speaking, but his voice is not heard.

A male narrator relays Samora’s purported statements together with a text transcription of the voiceover. 

“I fully agree with the prime minister’s speech in parliament about Eritrea regarding access to the Red Sea,” the narrator says. “The Assab port issue has never been forgotten by the Ethiopian people. I have been waiting for a long time. The time has now arrived.”

On October 28, 2025, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed spoke in Ethiopia’s parliament about his country’s “irreversible” quest for access to the Red Sea (archived here). Footage of the Red Sea and Abiy delivering his speech appears on the screen as the narrator speaks.

The video then switches back to footage of Samora as the narrator says that “Shabia does not prefer a peaceful mechanism. I have known Shabia for over 27 years in my capacity as leader of the national defence”. 

“Shabia considers peaceful resolution of conflict a crime. They use terrorism as a solution and war as a legal way of achieving their interests,” he adds. 

Shabia refers to the Eritrean government led by President Esaias Afwerki. 

“If the war starts, the Ethiopian army’s operation will not be limited to Assab port,” the narrator continues. “Because all of the Eritrean opposition needs to totally dismantle the current Shabia regime structures. Esias and Shabia leaders have not clearly understood this.” 

Escalating tensions 

Eritrea obtained independence from Ethiopia in 1993, followed by a bloody war between 1998 and 2000 which left tens of thousands dead (archived here). 

The Ethiopian government recently accused Eritrea of actively preparing to wage a new war against Ethiopia (archived here). 

Eritrea dismissed the accusation and condemned Ethiopia for “provocative sabre-rattling” (archived here). 

Analysts told AFP that fear of another war is brewing in the volatile Horn of Africa region as the tension between the two countries escalates (archived here). 

The video of Samora has been widely spread on social media by supporters of Ethiopia’s ruling party in this context. 

However, the claim has been fabricated. 

Old video

AFP Fact Check used InVID-WeVerify to conduct reverse image searches on keyframes from the video.

The results led to an old interview of Samora that was published on YouTube more than 13 years ago, in 2012, when he was the head of the army (archived here). 

It features the same footage used in the false claim – but not the same audio. 

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Screenshots of the original video (left) and the false post, taken on November 6, 2025 

The original 26-minute interview shows Samora – who also led the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) force before the rebel-led coalition came to power in 1991 – discussing a range of issues related to his experience as a guerrilla leader and army chief. 

However, at no point in the original interview does Samora mention Eritrea or occupying the port of Assab, nor did he make statements regarding the outcome of a war between Ethiopia and Eritrea. 

Fabricated statement

The altered video stripped Samora’s voice and added a voiceover narrator to create the false impression that he had promoted the idea of taking over the Assab port.  

Samora retired from his military career in 2018. During his last known recorded interview, which was conducted in 2020, he already appeared much older than in the 2012 footage that is currently recirculating (archived here). 

Furthermore, there is no public evidence that Samora has made any statements like those suggested in the false posts.

AFP Fact Check previously debunked another false claim related to Samora.