The video shows a missile fired by India's armed forces in March 2022

  • This article is more than one year old.
  • Published on June 14, 2022 at 10:44
  • 3 min read
  • By AFP Thailand
A video of a missile streaking through the sky has been viewed hundreds of times in social media posts that claim it shows the Myanmar military test-firing a supersonic cruise missile in the Coco Islands. While the video does show a missile test, it was carried out by the Indian military in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The eight-second video was posted on Facebook here on April 4, 2022 and has been shared more than 900 times. 

The post's Burmese-language caption reads: "I would like to proudly announce that the Myanmar military has successfully test-launched a BrahMos supersonic cruise missile. (Coco Islands) Credit: Sayar Bo Gyi."

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Screenshot taken on June 9, 2022 of the misleading post

BrahMos missiles are supersonic cruise missiles jointly developed by India and Russia.

The Coco Islands are a small group of islands in the Andaman Sea that belong to Myanmar.

The video was shared with a similar claim on Facebook here, here and here.

However, the claim is false. 

Indian missile test

Reverse image and keyword searches on Google led to a video tweeted by Kiren Rijiju, India's law and justice minister, on March 24 that indicated the missile test was carried out by India's armed forces.

The tweet reads: "Congratulations to all the scientists and team of  @DRDO_India on successful test firing of deadly surface to surface #BRAHMOS supersonic cruise missile in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. A proud moment for India." 

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are about 74 kilometres (46 miles) southwest of Myanmar's Coco Islands.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video from the misleading post (left) and the video in Rijiju's tweet (right): 

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Screenshot comparison of the video from the misleading post (left) and the video from Twitter (right)

India's national public broadcaster, All India Radio, reported on the missile launch here on March 24. 

"India has successfully test-fired surface to surface supersonic cruise missile BrahMos in Andaman and Nicobar. The extended range missile hit its target with pinpoint accuracy. Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari congratulated on the successful test-firing of BrahMos missile," the report reads.

The Andaman and Nicobar Command of the Indian armed forces also tweeted a series of photos from the test, which it says was carried out on March 23.

There were no credible reports as of June 12 about the Myanmar military test-firing a missile.

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