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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

YouturnWar & conflict

பாகிஸ்தான் துருப்புக்கள் 2019 தீபாவளி பரிசுகளை இந்திய ராணுவத்துடன் பரிமாறிக்கொள்கின்றன. 90% ஊடகங்கள் இதைக் காட்டவில்லை, ஊடகங்கள் வெறுக்கத்தக்க செய்திகளை மட்டுமே இதயத்தில் பரப்புகின்றன.

Publisher’s rating: Fake

FACTLYWar & conflict

Trump honouring the dog that was involved in the operation of killing ISIS chief Al-Bagdadi.

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns an image presented as showing Donald Trump honouring the dog involved in the operation against ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. FACTLY’s review says the image was digitally altered: the underlying photograph showed Trump awarding the Medal of Honor to James McCloughan, a US Army veteran, not honouring the dog. The investigation describes using reverse-image search to find a similar image in a CNN result, then comparing the two images to identify the original scene. The review places the altered image in the context of Trump’s posts about the dog. It reports that Trump tweeted an image of the dog on October 28, 2019, and later posted an image depicting himself honouring the dog with a medal and the text “American Hero.” But the review says Trump subsequently described that medal image as a “recreation” of the original. Taken together, the reported image comparison and Trump’s own description support the conclusion that the image was a modified version of the McCloughan award photograph, rather than an authentic photograph of Trump honouring the dog.

FACTLYWar & conflict

CNN called ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as unarmed father of three.

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

FACTLY examined a social-media image that appeared to show CNN using the phrase “unarmed father of three” for ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Its review says the image was digitally manipulated, and describes several checks supporting that conclusion. It compared the image’s lower text strip with actual CNN news videos: the review says CNN capitalized the words on that strip, unlike the lettering in the shared image. It also cropped the image of host Don Lemon and used Yandex reverse-image search, which found the same picture and expression in an article published ten months earlier. The review also points to a mismatch in the image’s timing and the reported broadcast. It says Don Lemon’s show generally aired on weekdays from 10 p.m. to midnight ET, whereas the image showed 9:01 p.m. ET and the breaking news about al-Baghdadi’s death came on a Sunday. The review cites a Snopes account of CNN’s actual announcement: anchor Jake Tapper reported on President Trump’s announcement, and the broadcast chyron read “President Trump Announces ISIS Leader Al-Baghdadi Is Dead.” Finally, FACTLY says it found no use of the disputed phrase on CNN’s Breaking News Twitter account or its live-updates page for the event. Taken together, the review’s image comparisons and its account of the actual broadcast support its conclusion that the shared image did not accurately represent CNN’s coverage.

FACTLYWar & conflict

Video of Rafale Fighter plane India bought from France.

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a video presented as showing a Rafale fighter that India was procuring from France. The review identifies the aircraft shown in that video as an F-16QQ turbine jet operated by Quique Somenzini, rather than a Rafale. It says the jet is associated with Flex Innovations, a company involved in aircraft-control systems and radio-controlled hobby products. The review’s conclusion is specific to the aircraft in the circulating video: it says the jet performing the stunts is not a Rafale. To investigate the video’s identity, the review says it broke the clip into keyframes and used Yandex reverse-image search. Those searches returned results about the F-16QQ. A Google search then led to a longer version of the clip on Flex Innovations’ YouTube channel, described as showing Quique flying the F-16QQ in Venice, Florida. The review also reports that the company’s logo is visible on the jet and that the company website lists an F-16QQ turbine jet as a product. The review further says that, at 6:19 in the longer video, Somenzini can be seen operating the aircraft with a remote control. It notes that India had signed an agreement with France in 2016 to purchase 36 Rafale fighters and received its first Rafale from France on October 9, 2019. That context concerns the real Rafale acquisition; it does not change the identification of the aircraft in the video under review.

FACTLYWar & conflict

Indian Army firing on POK.

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned a video presented as showing the Indian Army firing on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on 20 October 2019, shortly before Diwali. FACTLY’s review says the footage instead showed a firing exercise at the Deolali firing range in Maharashtra in June 2019, so it did not depict an attack on POK. The review explicitly concludes that the claim was false. (The review describes the claimed date and its finding as follows: “A video is being shared on Facebook with a claim that it shows Indian Army firing on POK (Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir) on 20 October 2019, a week before Diwali.” “The video is related to the Indian Army’s firing exercise at Deolali firing range in June-2019. It is in no way connected to any attack on POK; it was just a firing exercise. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.”) The checking method described was a reverse image search of screenshots from the video. FACTLY reports that this search surfaced YouTube videos with similar visuals, including one titled “Indian Army Firing Exercise (BM-21) at the Deolali ranges -| 2019.” The review then reports finding the same video posted by the Times of India in June 2019. (The review states: “When the screenshots of the video were through Google Reverse Image Search, some YouTube videos with similar visuals were found in the search results. One of those YouTube videos had the following title, ‘Indian Army Firing Exercise (BM-21) at the Deolali ranges -| 2019’.”) The Times of India video description, as quoted in the review, says the Army fired BM-21 Grad missiles during a firing exercise in Maharashtra’s Deolali. This provenance and the June 2019 timing support the review’s distinction between exercise footage and the later claimed attack; the supplied review does not describe footage of Indian Army firing on POK. (“The video has the following description, ‘The Indian Army fired back to back BM-21 Grad missiles during a firing exercise in Maharashtra’s Deolali.’ So, a firing exercise video taken in June-2019 is being shared as recent firing by the Indian Army on POK.”)

Divya ChandraWar & conflict

Image shows Pakistani soldier captured by Indian army in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim attached to the image was that a Pakistani soldier had been captured by the Indian Army in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, with an accompanying allegation that Pakistan’s army was abandoning posts and executing deserters. The Quint’s investigation concluded that the man in the image was not captured by Indian forces and that the photograph was from April 2018. Its findings therefore contradict the image’s claimed setting and capture story. The review describes a reverse-image search that led to a 15 April 2018 tweet by Afghanistan-based news channel 1TVNewsAF. That post identified the pictured man as a Pakistani soldier captured by Afghan border forces after an alleged clash in Afghanistan’s Khost province—not in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. The review also cites a Voice of America account of clashes near Kurram in Khost province on 15 April 2018. That account reported that Pakistan said two paramilitary soldiers were killed and five injured in cross-border fire from Afghanistan. The review’s evidence supports the narrower conclusion that the image does not depict a Pakistani soldier captured by the Indian Army in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Its account instead traces the image to reporting about an alleged Afghanistan–Pakistan border clash in 2018. The excerpt does not independently establish the identity of the man or confirm every detail of the 1TVNewsAF account; it reports the reverse-image-search result and the contemporaneous reporting as the basis for rejecting the claim.