FAKE: This screenshot of an article about Somalia’s future after AU peacekeepers leave is fabricated
The news outlet has disowned the screenshot.
This screenshot shared on X (formerly Twitter), purportedly of an article by The Intercept, reporting on Washington’s fears about Somalia’s future when the African Union peacekeepers leave, is FAKE.
The fake headline reads: “Washington fears Somalia’s collapse when AU peacekeepers leave by the end of the year.”
The text accompanying the screenshot reads, “This is a legitimate concern.”
The purported 23 May 2023 article includes a picture of Michael Hammer, the US special envoy for the Horn of Africa.
The Intercept is an American news organisation.
A Google search for the headline found no such article published online. The article also spells the writer’s name incorrectly. The correct spelling of The Intercept journalist’s name is James Risen.
PesaCheck emailed The Intercept to verify the claim, and the media outlet confirmed that the article was fake.
“I can confirm to you that the screenshot is not of an article we published at The Intercept. It appears to be a fraud. It even spells the writer’s name incorrectly,” said Ali Gharib, a senior editor at The Intercept.
There are reports that the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) is set to withdraw in 2024.
Somali National Security adviser Hussein Sheikh-Ali confirmed that a multinational force will replace the ATMIS for one year starting January 2025. Sheikh-Ali added that Ethiopian troops will not be part of the African Union forces arriving post-ATMIS mission.
Relations between Somalia and Ethiopia nosedived earlier this year after Ethiopia and Somaliland signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU), allowing Ethiopia sea access and a military base in exchange for potential recognition of Somaliland.
Somalia rejected the MoU and mediation with the Ethiopian government over the Somaliland port deal.
PesaCheck has looked into a screenshot on X, purportedly of an article by The Intercept, claiming that Washington fears Somalia’s collapse when AU peacekeepers leave by the end of the year and found it to be FAKE.
This post is part of an ongoing series of PesaCheck fact-checks examining content marked as potential misinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms.
By partnering with Facebook and similar social media platforms, third-party fact-checking organisations like PesaCheck are helping to sort fact from fiction. We do this by giving the public deeper insight and context to posts they see in their social media feeds.
Have you spotted what you think is fake or false information on Facebook? Here’s how you can report. And, here’s more information on PesaCheck’s methodology for fact-checking questionable content.
This fact-check was written by PesaCheck Fact-Checker Hassan Istiila and edited by PesaCheck senior copy editor Mary Mutisya.
The article was approved for publication by PesaCheck’s managing editor Doreen Wainainah.
PesaCheck is East Africa’s first public finance fact-checking initiative. It was co-founded by Catherine Gicheru and Justin Arenstein, and is being incubated by the continent’s largest civic technology and data journalism accelerator: Code for Africa. It seeks to help the public separate fact from fiction in public pronouncements about the numbers that shape our world, with a special emphasis on pronouncements about public finances that shape government’s delivery of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) public services, such as healthcare, rural development and access to water / sanitation. PesaCheck also tests the accuracy of media reportage. To find out more about the project, visit pesacheck.org.
