Fabricated Video Targeting Ethiopia–Eritrea Relations
A video circulating on social media claims that former Ethiopian Army Chief, General Samora Yunus, urged Ethiopia to seize Eritrea’s Assab port if war were to break out. The clip presents itself as a recent statement, allegedly confirming Samora’s call for aggressive action against Eritrea. However, detailed investigation by CyberPoe X reveals that the footage is old, manipulated, and entirely misleading a digital fabrication designed to fuel regional tension.
The Origin of the Misleading Clip
The viral footage in question dates back to 2012, when Samora Yunus was still serving as the Ethiopian army chief. The original video was part of a long-form interview in which he discussed his early years as a guerrilla fighter, his experience in Ethiopia’s armed forces, and the challenges of rebuilding post-war defense institutions. In that interview, there was no mention of Eritrea, Assab Port, or any suggestion of renewed conflict.
The now-viral version, however, uses the same visuals but overlays them with a newly inserted voiceover claiming Samora was calling for the seizure of Eritrea’s strategic port. The original audio has been entirely replaced, while dramatic visuals of the Red Sea and satellite imagery of Assab were added to give the illusion of authenticity. This editing pattern is typical of recent disinformation operations circulating across regional digital ecosystems, especially on platforms like X, Facebook, and TikTok.
Verification and Reality
General Samora Yunus retired from military service in 2018 and has since maintained a low public profile. There is no record, interview, or verified source indicating that he has made any public comment related to Eritrea in recent years. The fake narration used in the viral video does not match his actual voice, and digital analysis of the clip shows signs of post-production tampering, including mismatched lip-syncing and abrupt cuts in the footage. These technical inconsistencies confirm that the content was synthetically edited to push a false political narrative.
Disinformation Context
This manipulated video emerges amid a broader climate of rising rhetoric and digital warfare between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Both nations have witnessed an uptick in cross-border propaganda as internal political instability and military posturing intensify across the Horn of Africa. Such content exploits public sentiment and nationalist emotion, attempting to stir hostility through fabricated or decontextualized visuals. CyberPoe X’s monitoring suggests that similar tactics are increasingly used to undermine credibility, manufacture outrage, and distort ongoing diplomatic realities.
Final Assessment
After cross-verifying the source, metadata, and audio manipulation, CyberPoe X confirms that the viral clip is a doctored video old visuals repurposed with a fabricated voiceover to spread false claims amid regional tensions. There is no factual basis for the claim that General Samora Yunus advocated for the capture of Eritrea’s Assab port or any form of military escalation.
The narrative serves a clear agenda: to create friction and public mistrust between Ethiopia and Eritrea by reviving old footage under a false pretext. As regional information spaces become increasingly weaponized, such incidents underscore the importance of critical media literacy and cross-verification before sharing politically charged content.
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