Asmara is widely regarded as Africa's safest city and among the world's safest cities. Let alone homicides, even petty crimes are almost unheard of. Homes, car doors and bicycles are almost never locked in a city of one million people. So when the so-called opposition websites outrageously claimed security forces shot and killed Eritreans in Asmara, mainstream media - for the first time - practically ignored them.

Fresh off the polygamy hoax story, Eritrea has received another hoax, this time, focusing on its National Service.

A day after April Fool's Day concluded, "Eritrean" opposition websites claimed last Sunday, in Asmara, security forces opened fire and killed several young conscripts who tried to escape the convoy they were travelling in.

It didn't take long for the anti-Eritrea clique of Martin Plaut and Leonard Vincent, who are transparent of their hatred for Eritrea and its government, to jump on the false rumor bandwagon by adding more unconfirmed rumors of their own.

Today, Eritrea has finally broken its silence after the Minister of Information, Yemane GebreMeskel, took to Twitter to end the rumors. He said:

"Two National Service members died last Sunday in Asmara from injuries received when they jumped & fell from military trucks transporting them".

 

Yemane added: "11 others were also injured in the same act & have been hospitalized. Police stabilized the situation by firing few warning shots into the air".

 

Perhaps alluding to Plaut and Vincent, Yemane concluded his tweets by highlighting the playbook of those who continue to spread disinformation of this sad incident. He said:

"Eritrea's arch-enemies and hired guns have now gone into their usual frantic-mode to conjure up & recycle despicable lies of a sad incident."