Clip shows weapons captured by Burmese rebel group, not by Indian army

Published on May 29, 2025 at 09:50
3 min read
By Devesh MISHRA, AFP India

Social media users have shared footage falsely claiming it shows cash and weapons seized from gunmen by Indian soldiers in the northeastern Manipur state. The scene in the video matches pictures uploaded by a Facebook account linked to a Burmese rebel group in April 2025 after fighters captured a town in western Myanmar.

"The Indian army has recovered a huge cache of Chinese-made weapons and cash from militants in Manipur backed by the Congress party and China. See the proof," reads a Hindi-language X post published on May 17, 2025, referring to the opposition party often accused by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party of being "pro-China" (archived link).

It shares a video showing armed men in uniforms guarding cash, rifles and ammunition laid out on the ground. The clip has been watched over 26,500 times.

Screenshot of the false post, taken on May 26, 2025

The false post surfaced after the Indian army said it killed ten gunmen and seized a "sizeable quantity of arms and ammunition" during an operation in Manipur's Chandel district near the border with Myanmar on May 14 (archived link).

The state has been split along ethnic lines since the outbreak of deadly violence between the predominantly Hindu Meitei majority and the mainly Christian Kuki community since May 2023 (archived link).

At least 260 people have been killed and tens of thousands have fled their homes in the northeastern state.

The clip also spread elsewhere on X and on Facebook, but visual evidence indicates it is from Myanmar, not India.

A reverse image search using the clip's keyframes revealed a Facebook page linked to Burma National Revolution Army (BNRA) -- a rebel group in Myanmar -- shared pictures on April 11 showing the same scene (archived link).

The photos' Burmese-language caption says they were taken after the group took control of the town of Falam from the military junta.

Screenshot comparison of the false video (L) and the photo uploaded on Facebook, with similarities highlighted by AFP

One of the men can be seen wearing BNRA's insignia at the 0:37 mark in the false video.

Screenshot of the clip with the BNRA insignia highlighted by AFP

Burmese outlet Myanmar Now also published pictures on April 9 showing the scene with a caption saying they show weapons taken from junta forces (archived link).

Myanmar's military seized power in a 2021 coup, sparking a civil war pitting it against pro-democracy guerrillas and resurgent ethnic armed groups that have long been active in the Southeast Asian country's fringes (archived link).

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