FALSE: These pictures purportedly of military vehicles Somaliland purchased from Ethiopia aren’t from August 2024

The images are not recent, they have been online since 2020.

This Facebook post with  images claiming to show military vehicles that Somaliland purchased from Ethiopia crossing the Ethiopia-Somalia border is FALSE.

The pictures were posted on Facebook on August 16, 2024, with a Somali caption that translates to: “BREAKING: Dozens of armored military vehicles that Somaliland purchased from Ethiopia arrived in Wajaale tonight. These weapons include tanks, 37mm guns, KPV heavy machine guns, shoulder-fired rifles, and other military supplies. Somaliland is preparing for a massive operation to reach its borders.”

There is no evidence showing that Somaliland purchased military vehicles from Ethiopia. But there was a meeting between Ethiopia and Somaliland army chiefs in January 2024, as seen here.

Puntland Mirror performed a Google reverse image to verify the authenticity of the images.

For our verification, we found that the first picture (highlighted in red) was initially published here, here, and here in March 2020, with the caption indicating that Ethiopian forces which are part of African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) arrived in Dolow.

The second image (highlighted in blue) was also published here, and here in March 2020, with the caption indicating that Ethiopian forces which are part of AMISOM arrived in Dolow.

Similarly, the third image (highlighted in yellow) was published here in March 2020.

Puntland Mirror examined pictures on Facebook that claimed to show military vehicles purchased by Somaliland from Ethiopia crossing the Ethiopia-Somalia border and found the claim to be false.

This fact-check was produced by Puntland Mirror under the African Fact-Checking Incubator programme, with support from PesaCheck, Code for Africa’s fact-checking initiative, and the African Fact-Checking Alliance(AFCA).