Months-old video falsely linked to violent protests in Bangladesh's southeast

Published on October 9, 2025 at 11:25
2 min read
By Rasheek MUJIB, AFP Bangladesh

After three people were killed in violent protests in Bangladesh's southeast border region, social media posts shared a video falsely claiming it showed a soldier who had been "tortured". The footage in fact predates the unrest, and depicts a soldier injured during clashes with student protesters in the capital Dhaka.

"The tribals captured the army and tortured them for about two hours before releasing them; the situation is critical," reads the Bengali-language caption of a Facebook video shared on October 1, 2025.

The video shows a soldier who appears to be writhing in pain on the ground while police and other soldiers gather around him.

It circulated after violent clashes in Khagrachari, in Bangladesh's southeastern border region, that left three people dead, with the army blaming rebels and demonstrators accusing troops of opening fire (archived link).

The clashes in the Chittagong Hill Tracts erupted on September 28, when security forces stopped protesters angry at the recent alleged rape of a schoolgirl.

The region has long been a flashpoint between Indigenous communities and Bengali-speakers, with clashes breaking out over land and resources.

Screenshot of the false Facebook post captured on October 8, 2025, with a red X added by AFP

The same video was also shared elsewhere in similar Facebook posts.

But the video was in fact filmed in Dhaka, months before the clashes in southeastern Bangladesh.

A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared video led to similar footage published on YouTube by local media outlet Daily Ittefaq on July 22 (archived link).

"Army personnel seriously injured after students' attack," reads the longer video's caption.

The footage was also posted by The Daily Morning Voice (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (left) and the similar Daily Ittefaq video (right)

Local media reported that students had clashed with security personnel during a protest outside the government secretariat building in the capital Dhaka (archived link).

Students had been calling for accountability from education officials, after a fighter jet crashed into a private school killing at least 31 people, mostly children (archived link).

Protesters had accused the government of lying about the death toll, and were demanding the education minister to resign.

Moreover, the video also contains elements that correspond with Google Street View imagery of the secretariat building in Dhaka (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of the Daily Ittefaq video (left) and Google Street View imagery (right), with corresponding elements highlighted by AFP

AFP have debunked other false claims about the unrest in Bangladesh's southeast border region.

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

E-mail