FALSE: This image isn’t of Egyptian Troops Arriving in Somalia in October 2024

The image was initially published on September 13, 2024.

This post on X (formerly Twitter) with the image claiming that a new battalion of Egyptian troops  arrived in Somalia in October 2024, is FALSE. 

“BREAKING NEWS: New battalion of Egyptian troops finally arrived in Somalia. That shows Cairo real presence in the region”, reads the post.

The claim was shared as the latest military agreement between Somalia, and Egypt was signed to bolster security cooperation. On 14 August 2024, as reported here, the pact was signed after bilateral talks between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and his Somali counterpart, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who was on a two-day visit to Cairo.

However, to verify the authenticity of the images, Puntland Mirror conducted Google reverse  image search, and found that the image is of Egyptian military personnel at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza Strip in Rafah, as reported here.

The image was also published here and here.

To confirm whether a battalion of Egyptian troops arrived in Somalia in October 2024, Puntland Mirror talked to Abdi Adow, a Somali military Colonel who said on the phone, that “No Egyptian troops arrived in the country in October. So that is not valid”.

Furthermore, a Google search did not yield results for the above claim. 

Puntland Mirror examined the post with an image, showing that a new battalion of Egyptian troops finally arrived in Somalia, found 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).