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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

War & conflict fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about war & conflict. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

5,848 published reviews in this topic

FACTLYWar & conflict

Videos of the recent Maoist attack at Bijapur in Chhattisgarh

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The post presented two videos as showing the Maoist attack at Bijapur, Chhattisgarh, on 3 April 2021, in which security personnel were killed. The review checked whether the videos actually came from that event, rather than whether the attack itself occurred. It concluded that neither video was connected to the attack because both were already circulating online before it happened. For the first video, the review reports that reverse-image searches found the same footage posted in 2018, and similar YouTube uploads had appeared as early as 2017. Some uploads associated it with Myanmar, but the review says it found no credible source confirming that attribution. Its conclusion is narrower: the video’s earlier circulation shows it was not footage of the 2021 Bijapur attack. For the second video, the review says keyword searches found the same footage on YouTube in 2018 and that Kalinga TV posted it in 2019. Those earlier appearances likewise rule out its being a recording of the attack in April 2021. The review’s account therefore supports rejecting the videos as visuals of that event; it does not establish the original location or circumstances of either clip in every respect.

FACTLYWar & conflict

Video of soldiers nabbing terrorists at Dahod Railway Station in Gujarat

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The claim concerns a video said to show soldiers catching terrorists at Dahod Railway Station in Gujarat. FACTLY’s review identifies the footage as a mock drill at that same station, not a real attack or the capture of actual terrorists. It says the people being caught in the video were not real terrorists attacking the station. To check the video’s context, the review describes searching Google with keywords and finding the same video posted by a YouTube channel called “themobile news,” which described it as a mock drill at Dahod Railway Station. The review also says that footage from another angle had been published with a similar description by several YouTube channels, and points to Gujarati news articles about the drill. Taken together, the evidence identifies the footage as a staged exercise and contradicts the post’s presentation of it as a real incident.

FACTLYWar & conflict

Photos of the vandalised properties in the recent Bhainsa communal violence

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

FACTLY investigated social-media posts presenting photos of vandalised houses, vehicles and other properties as images of recent communal clashes in Bhainsa, Telangana. Its review found the set was largely misattributed: “Except for one photo, all other photos in these posts are not related to the recent communal clashes at Bhainsa town in Telangana.” The review describes using reverse image searches to trace similar images to earlier reporting. For one image, it found a similar photo in an Al Jazeera article about the 2020 Delhi riots, and said the same photo appeared on Getty Images with a similar description. It also located another similar image in news articles that identified it as a visual from the Delhi riots. The remaining images were traced to earlier communal violence in Bhainsa. FACTLY found a similar photo of a vandalised car in a News Minute article about clashes in the town on 13 January 2020; a similar photo of a burnt bike in The Hindu article dated 13 January 2020; and another photo described in a January 2020 article as a visual from the Bhainsa communal riots. Thus, the review’s account distinguishes images from the 2020 Delhi riots and earlier Bhainsa clashes from the recent violence the posts claimed they depicted.

Deutsche Presse-AgenturWar & conflict

Video zeigt Bundesheer bei Abriegelung von Wiener Neustadt

Publisher’s rating: Das Video zeigt Fahrzeuge des Bundesheers auf der Durchreise von Graz zu einem Übungsplatz in Wiener Neustadt.

The video circulated alongside reports of a COVID-related testing requirement for people leaving Wiener Neustadt. Posts claimed the military vehicles showed that the city was being sealed off; other posts described the alleged closures as part of a wider operation. The investigation examined the video itself and the circumstances of the vehicles’ presence in the city, rather than treating the simultaneous testing requirement as proof of a military cordon. “Vor allem in Deutschland wird das Video mit der Behauptung (hier archiviert) verbreitet, dass Wiener Neustadt vom Militär abgeriegelt wird.” The footage shows several military vehicles passing a gas station. The review located the recording on the B17 in northern Wiener Neustadt, using Google Street View, and noted that the fuel prices visible in the video were close to current prices, supporting that the footage was recent. These checks establish where and approximately when the video was recorded, but the explanation for the vehicles comes from the Bundesheer’s spokesperson. “Das Video wurde auf der Bundesstraße B17 im Norden von Wiener Neustadt aufgezeichnet, wie sich per Google Street View überprüfen lässt.” Bundesheer spokesperson Colonel Michael Bauer confirmed that the vehicles were in Wiener Neustadt but said they were travelling from Graz to the Tritolwerk training area near Eggendorf. He said the movement was connected to preparations for Austria’s contribution to the EU Battlegroup: 150 CBRN soldiers were to be provided from July to December 2021, and the soldiers’ target verification was to take place at the training ground. The review also reports that the Bundesheer’s CBRN Defence Centre independently described the footage as vehicles passing through on their way to an exercise. This evidence explains the convoy without supporting the claim that it was there to seal off the city.

FACTLYWar & conflict

Video of Israel army attacking a Palastinian Mosque for making the sound of Azaan

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns footage said to show Israeli forces attacking a Palestinian mosque because it made the sound of Azaan. FACTLY reports that the video instead shows US forces firing at a mosque minaret in Iraq. It says the footage was from a 2008 incident and that the attack was carried out by US Marine Corps personnel, not Israeli forces. The investigation therefore identifies a different country, military and setting from those asserted in the post. (S1: “This video shows the 2008 incident of US army forces attacking a Mosque minaret in Iraq.”; “This video has nothing to do with Israel and Palestine.”) FACTLY describes checking screenshots from the shared video with reverse image search, which led to an article published in 2008 reporting US forces shooting down a mosque minaret in Iraq. It also found similar footage on filmmaker Michael Moore’s YouTube channel, described there as the U.S. Marine Corps destroying a mosque in Iraq. The review further cites John Michael Turner’s testimony about the incident and says the video bears an Iraq Veterans Against the War watermark. Together, these provenance clues support the review’s identification of the footage as Iraq-related rather than evidence of the claimed Israeli attack. (S1: “On reverse image search of the screenshots shared in the video, similar visuals of the minaret were found in an article published in 2008.”; “A watermark of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) can be observed in this video.”)