Despite widespread “confirmed” reports of the Ethiopian city of Dessie being captured by TPLF rebels, Awasa Guardian confirmed the city is still in the hands of Ethiopian forces.

Various Western and foreign media have continued quoting Tigrayan rebel leaders and “witnesses,” claiming Dessie has fallen. TPLF’s Getachew Reda had also “confirmed” the news as well as the pro-rebel Professor Kindeya Gebrehiwot who recently used a fake photo from an old Chechnya conflict in Russia, claiming it was in Dessie.

One of the top pro-war journal & website frequented by foreigners, “Ethiopia Map,” has also claimed TPLF took over Dessie. It was so sure of TPLF victory that the website claimed the rebels were just doing mopping up operations to “consolidate control” over the city. TDF/TPLF are “engaged in clearing operations in the city to remove any holdouts,” it claimed, which ended up being opposite from the reality on the ground.

The website is managed by non-Ethiopians and it has big following on Telegram & Twitter. Some of that website’s followers include top names in western media, including Reuters journalist Giulia Paravicini, NYtimes and Bloomberg contributor Simon Marks and The Economist journalist Tom Gardner. Even editors and Africa Bureau chiefs, including Reuters chief Katharine Houreld and AFP chief Ammu Kannamphilly as well as Human Rights Watch (HRW) director Laetitia Bader use that war journal managed by non-Ethiopians as a reliable source of information on Ethiopia.

As late as Saturday night, none of the western media outlets who claimed Dessie has fallen have made any corrections or retractions. According to precedent, most western editors do not admit errors and often make a soft undisclosed edit.