No, Protesters in Sudan Are Not Attacking the French Embassy

We found that while the video is from Sudan, it dates back to 2012 when protesters attacked the German Embassy.

A video of protesters clashing with security forces is doing the rounds on the internet with a claim that it is from Sudan where Muslims attacked the French embassy.

(Photo: The Quint)

A video of protesters clashing with security forces is doing the rounds on the internet with a claim that it is from Sudan where Muslims attacked the French embassy over President Emmanuel Macron’s statement after the murder of a school teacher in Paris.

However, The Quint’s WebQoof team investigated the video and we found that while it is from Sudan, it dates back to 2012 when protesters targeted the German Embassy allegedly over an anti-Islam video released online.

CLAIM

The aforementioned video is massively viral on Facebook with a claim which reads: “बताया जा रहा है कि सूडान के ग़ैरतमंद मुसलमानों ने फ्रांस की अंबेसी का घेराव करके आग लग दी है जो कि बहुत उम्दा काम किया है | बतला दो गुस्ताख ए नबी को गैरत ए मुस्लिम जिंदा है |”

[Translation: It is being said that some self-respecting Muslims have attacked the French embassy in Sudan. They’ve done a great job]

An archived version of the post can be accessed here.(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

An archived version of the page can be accessed here.(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

WHAT WE FOUND

We fragmented the viral video into multiple keyframes and followed it up with a Yandex reverse image search. This directed us to a video uploaded by CNN on YouTube in 2012 which carried the same visuals as the viral video and claimed that it shows Sudanese protesters storming the German embassy in Khartoum.

Next, we searched Google for “Protests at the German Embassy in Sudan” and looked for results from 2012.

This report by Aljazeera which also carried a video of the protests mentioned that violent protests broke out in Sudan and elsewhere as crowds targeted the embassies of the US, the UK and Germany “over an on-line video which insults Islam”.

(Photo: The Quint)

Another report by Deutsche Welle stated that protesters threw stones at the two neighbouring outposts in Khartoum before they stormed the main gates of the German embassy.

Clearly, a 2012 video of clashes outside the German embassy in Sudan is being shared on the internet in the wake of the Paris murder as “self-respecting” Muslims attacking the French embassy in Sudan.

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