Old protest footage falsely linked to ethnic violence in Bangladesh

Published on October 7, 2025 at 09:04
Updated on October 7, 2025 at 09:05
2 min read
By AFP Thailand

Clashes between security forces and Bangladesh's indigenous community protesting the alleged rape of a girl left three people dead in late September. However, a video circulating in Burmese social media posts does not show soldiers shooting at demonstrators in the South Asian country's southeastern region bordering Myanmar -- the footage was in fact taken in the capital Dhaka during mass unrest that ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina in 2024.

"Now Bangladesh army shot the public in Guimara, Chittagong, Bangladesh. The video of Bangladesh army opened fire on protesters emerges," reads the Burmese-language caption to a video shared on Facebook on September 29.

Guimara is an area in Bangladesh's Khagrachari district, located in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region bordering Myanmar.

The 30-second footage shows soldiers lying in a row on the ground with guns pointed at people in the distance, while gunshots can also be heard.

Screenshot taken on October 6, 2025 of the false post with an X marked by AFP

The video was repeatedly shared on Facebook by users in neighbouring Myanmar with similar claims after three people were killed during clashes between security forces and protesters in Khagrachari district (archived link).

The unrest was triggered by the alleged rape of a schoolgirl in an area that has long been a flashpoint between Indigenous communities and Bengali-speakers, with clashes breaking out over land and resources.

However, the video is old and unrelated to the recent violence.

Reverse image searches and keyword searches on Google found the same clip in a report by Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera, uploaded to YouTube on July 24, 2024 (archived link). The circulating clip corresponds to the YouTube video's 30-second mark.

The title reads, "Bangladesh curfews, internet blackout batter economy amid quota protests".

Screenshot comparison of the video from the false post (L) to the Al Jazeera video

Bangladesh's student-led movement began in July 2024, with hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters clashing with security forces in the worst unrest of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina's 15-year rule (archived link).

Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024, according to the United Nations (archived link).

Further reverse image searches found a similar photo of the row of soldiers published on British photo agency Alamy, dated July 20, 2024 with a caption that states it was taken in the capital Dhaka (archived link).

The shops and buildings seen in both the Al Jazeera video and the photo on Alamy match Google Street View imagery of a Dhaka neighbourhood, 180 kilometres (112 miles) from Khagrachari (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of the Al Jazeera video (L) and the Google Maps' Street View imagery, with matching features highlighted by AFP

Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.

E-mail