Image from action movie falsely shared as 'dead ethnic rebels in Myanmar'

"Look at the state of KIA and PDF terrorists who attacked the military base located in Myitkyina-Sumprabum strategic road, after the army attacked them back," reads the Burmese-language caption to the image shared on Facebook on September 22.

It appears to show a battlefield with several men lying on the ground.

The post surfaced after local media reported the ethnic rebel group Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and anti-coup People's Defence Forces (PDF) seized a military base in northern Kachin state.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power in February 2021 in a coup that ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

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Screenshot taken on September 3, 2023 of the false post

The image has also been shared with a similar false claim on Facebook here, here, here and here.

However, a reverse search followed by a keyword search on Google found the image shows a still from a movie.

It corresponds to a scene in the trailer of an action film called "Triple Threat" that was uploaded here on online movie database IMDB (archived link).

The film was released in 2019 and stars Thai martial artist Tony Jaa, according to IMDB.

"When a billionaire's daughter intent on bringing down a major crime syndicate is targeted by a group of professional assassins, a team of mercenaries must stop them before they kill her," reads the film's synopsis.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the image shared in one of the false posts (left) and the scene from the movie trailer (right):

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Image shared in the false posts (left) and scene from Triple Threat film (right)

An AFP journalist watched "Triple Threat" and was able to confirm the scene was featured in the beginning of the movie where an Indonesian military camp was attacked by a group of professional assassins.

The scene shows the main character who survived the attack with his fallen wife and comrades.