The Ethiopian government and the rebel Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) began fresh peace talks in Tanzania on November 7, 2023 to end a deadly armed conflict in the Oromia region. A Facebook post published with a video purports to show a news bulletin from independent broadcaster Oromia Media Network (OMN) confirming the execution of OLA commander Jaal Marroo Diriba a month earlier. However, the video is a compilation of old news segments stitched together to falsely imply Marroo was killed. OMN told AFP Fact Check the video was fabricated. Marroo, meanwhile, is in Tanzania for the latest round of peace talks.

The post contains a caption written in Afaan Oromoo that translates to “sad news”.

The post, published on Facebook on October 23, 2023, has been shared more than 260 times.

It contains a 61-second clip comprising pictures of Marroo fading in and out against a backdrop of burning candles while separate footage embedded near the top of the screen shows a news anchor welcoming viewers. “We will present the main news of the day. First, sad news,” he says.

The footage goes on to show news presenters purportedly talking about the OLA commander’s execution by Ethiopian police.

The OLA is an armed wing (archived here) of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), a political opposition organisation that was exiled for more than two decades and returned to Ethiopia in 2018 after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office.

In the same year, however, the OLA took up arms once again after...

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