Clips show US strikes on Baghdad in 2003, not attack on Israel
- Published on October 21, 2024 at 10:55
- 4 min read
- By Tommy WANG, AFP Hong Kong
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"Iran, Syria, Iraq, the Huthis and Lebanese Hezbollah simultaneously launch massive air bombings against Israel," read the simplified Chinese caption of a TikTok video that shared the footage on October 4.
The video, which racked up more than 257,000 views, features a text sticker that claims it was filmed on October 3 in the Israeli commercial hub of Tel Aviv.
That day, Huthi rebels said they carried out a drone attack on Tel Aviv, although there was no direct confirmation from Israeli authorities (archived link).
The Israeli military said it intercepted "a suspicious aerial target" off central Israel overnight, without giving further details.
The Huthis are part of Iran's "Axis of Resistance" against Israel and the United States, which also includes the Palestinian group Hamas, Hezbollah in Lebanon and other Shiite Muslim armed groups in Iraq and Syria.
The spiralling violence in the Middle East, all while war rages on in Gaza, has heightened the risk of a high-intensity conflict across the region, despite diplomatic efforts to calm tensions (archived link).
The Gaza war began after Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 that resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
The militants also abducted 251 people, Israelis and foreigners, 97 of whom are still held in Gaza including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel's retaliatory military offensive in Gaza has killed more than 42,430 people, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The UN says the figures are reliable.
The clip ricocheted across social media, including X, YouTube and Chinese platform Xigua Video ahead of the anniversary of the October 7 attacks.
'Shock and awe'
A reverse image search on Google and keyword searches found similar footage in an article that mentions the US bombardment of Baghdad in 2003, known as "Operation Shock and Awe" (archived link).
This term was coined by Washington to describe its bombing campaign that year, which lit up the skies and destroyed swathes of Iraq as the United States and its allies invaded.
Below is a comparison of the video shared in false posts (left) and in an article from Turkish news outlet OdaTV from October 2022 (right):
Various buildings in Baghdad can be seen in the footage, including the Zaqura Castle and Baghdad Clock (archived here and here).
An AFP photo taken in Baghdad by photographer Ramzi Haidar on March 21, 2003 shows the scene of the strikes in the video (archived link).
Footage of bombing in Baghdad that day was widely published by news media, including US network CNN and Britain's ITN (archived here and here).
Seven seconds into ITN's video report, a huge explosion can be seen near the Zaqura Castle. That building is also visible at the 3-second mark of the video compilation shared in false posts.
The United States unleashed major air strikes on Iraq on March 20, 2003, claiming that Saddam Hussein's regime illegally possessed weapons of mass destruction, though none were ever found (archived link).
Washington began its "shock and awe" campaign the following day, raining bombs on Baghdad, ahead of a US and British-led coalition ground invasion that ended Saddam's regime and led to a nearly nine-year war.
AFP has debunked another similar video falsely shared as Hamas strikes on Israel in October 2023.
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