Images showing smoke billowing from a building have been shared in Facebook posts claiming the scenes depict Ethiopia’s invasion of Shire, Tigray’s largest city. This is false; while Tigrayan rebels said Ethiopian and Eritrean forces had captured Shire, the photos circulating online were taken in 2021 when a building caught alight in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa.

A Facebook post published on October 17, 2022, includes a collage of photos showing a building on fire. One of the images shows the burning structure from a distance, while the other pictures are close-ups of the block engulfed in flames.

“The fugitives of Ethiopia and Eritrean Shire,” reads the post.

A screenshot of the false Facebook post, taken on October 18, 2022

Another Facebook post shared a single image and a caption that reads: “Cry for #Tigray #Shire town (sic).”

A screenshot of the false Facebook post, taken on October 18, 2022

On October 18, 2022, the Ethiopian government said it had taken three towns in the war-stricken region of Tigray, located in the northern part of Ethiopia. This announcement came after the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) confirmed Ethiopian and Eritrean forces had captured the strategic city of Shire and other areas.

However, the images shared on Facebook do not show Shire or events related to Ethiopia’s civil war.

Blaze in Addis

AFP Fact Check conducted a reverse image search which revealed various reports about a fire which destroyed the Emanuel Tsega building in the busy neighbourhood of Merkato in the heart of the Ethiopian capital, more than 900 kilometres from Shire (here and here).

A further search found a tweet about the fire posted on October 30, 2021, by Addis Maleda, an Amharic newspaper. The tweet included all of the images used in the false Facebook post claiming to show the invasion of Shire.

This is not the first time visuals of the burning building have been used to spread disinformation about the civil war.

Last year, AFP Fact Check debunked a video of the same burning building shared alongside claims that the footage was captured in Mekelle, the capital of Tigray. This was not long after the federal government conducted airstrikes in Tigray, the implication being that an act of war caused the fire.

Tigray conflict

According to the United Nations, the civil war between Ethiopian federal forces and the TPLF has resulted in the deaths of untold numbers of civilians, driven an estimated two million people from their homes, and rendered millions more in need of aid in a little more than two years.

Though there was a five-month truce that allowed limited amounts of aid into Tigray and raised a glimmer of hope for peace, fighting resumed between pro-government forces and the TPLF in late August, with both blaming the other for shattering the ceasefire.

International calls for a halt to escalating violence in Tigray have been mounting since the African Union failed to bring the warring sides to the negotiating table earlier this month.