This footage has been circulating online since 2012

This article is more than one year old.
Published on March 5, 2020 at 11:36
3 min read
By AFP Kenya, Mary KULUNDU

Multiple posts on Facebook and Twitter have shared a video claiming to show a violent attack on the Kenya-Somalia border reported on March 3, 2020. However, the claim is false; the recording has been online since 2012 and used to report the conflict in Sudan.

On March 2, 2020, AFP reported on heavy fighting in a Somali border town -- Bulohawo, near the Kenyan town of Mandera -- between government forces and supporters of a fugitive minister hiding out in Kenya.

Details of the conflict remained sketchy for most of the day, although videos and photos purportedly showing events in the area circulated on social media.

Among them is footage of men firing shots from moving gun-mounted pickup trucks. The video was shared in multiple Facebook and Twitter posts, including some belonging to news outlets.

One post viewed more than 40,000 times appeared in a Facebook group of Kenyan news site Kenyan.co.ke with the caption “Fighting Ongoing at the Kenya-Somalia Border”.

The clip was shared more than 600 times and attracted more than one thousand comments and reactions.

Screenshot of misleading Facebook post, taken on March 4, 2020

The same news site also shared the video on its Twitter handle (archived here) before deleting the post on both social media platforms.

Another post on a Somali Facebook Page with more than 40,000 followers shared the same video. The caption translates into English as: "Fighting which has continued for more than 4 hours is ongoing in Bulohawo town and civilian neighbourhoods are under artillery fire."

The video on this post has been viewed more than 4,000 times.

Screenshot of misleading Facebook post, taken on March 4, 2020

On Twitter, this handle with more than 800,000 followers shared the same clip claiming it was recorded on the Kenya-Somalia border.

“Fighting on the Kenya-Somalia border btw Somalia army and JUBALAND mercenaries (sic),” the caption reads.

Screenshot of misleading Tweet, taken on March 4, 2020

Video is from 2012

Though some online users seemed to believe the video was of the ongoing attack at the Kenya-Somali border, others appeared to recognise the clip as old footage of the conflict in Sudan.

One comment on the misleading post led us to this video posted on Youtube on January 27, 2014, titled, “Nuba Warriors From South Sudan: In a major Fire Fight”. The exact footage of gun-mounted pickups firing while on the move can be seen three minutes and 17 seconds into the video.

Another cue suggested that the video could be from the conflict between Sudan and South Sudan over the disputed Heglig oil fields in 2012.

In March 2012, as reported by AFP here, border fighting between Sudan and South Sudan broke out when Southern troops briefly wrested the valuable Heglig oil field from Khartoum's control and Sudan launched bombing raids in response.

We searched the keywords “Heglig” “conflict” and “South Sudan” on YouTube and came across this video published in 2012.

Titled “South Sudan Victory in Panthou Heglig front line. Long live SPLA”, it contains the exact clip used in the misleading posts purporting to show the fighting on the Kenya-Somali border. This can be viewed three minutes and 23 seconds into the footage.

South Sudan has been wracked by conflict since 2013 due to political rivalry among the ruling elite, and fighting devastated the oil sector -- its main earner.

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