Old photo falsely shared as aftermath of Russian strike in Syria

Published on December 9, 2024 at 04:33
Updated on December 9, 2024 at 05:55
2 min read
By AFP Thailand

As Syrian rebels launched a shock offensive against president Bashar al-Assad, an old photo of scores of burnt vehicles circulated online with a false claim it showed the aftermath of a recent Russian bombing on rebels who overthrew him. While Moscow supported Assad in fighting the rebels, the picture was in fact taken in 2021 at a Turkish border crossing in northwestern Syria.

"Russian president Putin sacked deputy general Sergey Kisel yesterday for the fall of Aleppo," read a Burmese-language Facebook post that shared the photo on December 2.

"Russian airstrikes destroyed the fuel market owned by US-backed Al-Qaeda leader Mohammed al-Jolani in Idlib yesterday."

Screenshot taken on December 5, 2024 of the false post

The photo circulated on Facebook and X as a lightning rebel advance saw Assad's government lose control of second city Aleppo. The rebels swept into the capital Damascus on December 8 and ended five decades of rule by his Baath party.

Syrian and Russian militaries launched strikes in failed attempts to hold back the offensive -- including on December 6 that killed 20 civilians (archived link).

However, the photo was in fact taken in 2021 after Russian strikes destroyed trucks near the Bab al-Hawa border crossing near Turkey.

Old picture

A reverse image search on Google found the photo published on March 22, 2021 by photo stock database Alamy and credited to Syrian photojournalist Rami Alsayed (archived link).

The photo caption reads: "Idlib - Syria, Bab al-Hawa crossing, 22 March 2021, civilians inspect their property, which was burned after a Russian airstrike that targeted a garage for commercial trucks near the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey, which is controlled by the Syrian opposition."

Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo seen in the false post (left) and on the Alamy website (right):

Screenshot comparison of the photo seen in the false post (left) and on the Alamy website (right)

The US State Department said Russian jets struck in Idlib near the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey on the previous day, reportedly killing a civilian (archived link).

Al Jazeera also published the photo on the same day on Facebook (archived link).

The post's Arabic-language caption reads: "From social media -- a glimpse of the damage caused by a Russian airstrike on a cargo car park near the Bab Al Hawa border crossing with Turkey".

December 9, 2024The first and fourth lines of this story were updated to clarify that the misinformation surfaced online before Assad's fall.

December 9, 2024 The first and fourth lines of this story were updated to clarify that the misinformation surfaced online before Assad's fall.

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