Fabricated Al Jazeera report about 'Taliban abducting girls' misuses old photo
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on August 26, 2021 at 08:44
- Updated on August 26, 2021 at 08:51
- 3 min read
- By AFP India
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The screenshot was shared here on Facebook on August 18 as the Taliban took back power in Afghanistan.
It purports to show a Twitter post from the Qatar-based network Al Jazeera that reads: "Breaking News, Taliban started abducting minor girls from their home. The parents who are refusing to give their daughters to Taliban are being killed by Taliban fighters."
The purported report features an image that appears to show a crying woman surrounded by several men.
An identical screenshot was also shared here and here on Facebook.
The screenshot, however, had been fabricated.
"Al Jazeera confirms that the Twitter image in question is completely fabricated. It has no connection of any kind to Al Jazeera or its editorial," Al Jazeera told AFP on August 25.
The username of the official Twitter account for Al Jazeera English is @AJEnglish -- not @AJENews as seen in the purported tweet.
The name "Al Jazeera" is also wrongly spelled as "Al Jajeera" in the fabricated screenshot.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the verified Twitter account of Al Jazeera English (L) and the fabricated screenshot (R):
The username @AJENews is in fact used by Al Jazeera Breaking News on Twitter.
Keyword searches did not find the account posted the purported report in the misleading posts.
Misused old image
The image in the fabricated tweet is old and in fact shows a performance by Afghan artists. It was shot in March 2016 by a photographer for the Associated Press news agency.
The photo's caption reads: "Afghan artists re-enact the mob murder of Farkhunda Malikzada, 27, an Afghan woman who was beaten to death on March 19, 2015 after being falsely accused of burning a copy of the Quran, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, March 17, 2016.
"The performance marked the inauguration of a memorial monument built in her honor at the site of her murder."
AFP reported on the killing of the Afghan woman here.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the fabricated screenshot (L) and the AP photo (R):
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