Videos From Middle East Go Viral as Footage of Pulwama Attack

The videos are actually from car bomb explosions in the Middle East, in Syria and Iraq.

A video of a car bomb explosion was shared on social media as CCTV footage of Pulwama terror attack.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

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After the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama on Thursday, 14 February, which claimed the lives of at least 40 CRPF personnel, two separate videos of an explosion has been circulating on social media, claiming to be the CCTV footage of the Pulwama attack.

VIDEO ONE

The first video, which shows a bomb blast near a check-post, has been shared multiple times on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

Facebook page Indian ARMY GROUP shared the video with a caption ‘पुलवामा मे आंतकवादी हमले के CCTV वीडियो... ये वीडियो सामने आया है’ (CCTV video of the Pulwama terror attack. This video has surfaced).

(Photo Courtesy: Facebook| Indian Army Group)

(Photo Courtesy: Facebook| Hindusthan Samachar)

Another page called Hindusthan Samachar posted the video saying ‘पुलवामा मे आंतकवादी हमले का CCTV वीडियो #शहादत_को_सलाम #Pulwama #PulwamaAttack #CRPF’ (CCTV video of Pulwama terror attack, salute to martyrdom). It was shared by many Facebook users.

Individual users on Twitter also shared the video with similar claims.

FACT

The video is not the CCTV footage of the Pulwama terror attack, but is actually from a car blast near a Syrian town.

Reverse Google image search shows that the video is of a car bomb explosion that happened on Tuesday, 12 February.

Reuters reported that a car bomb explosion took place at a checkpoint in the outskirts of the Syrian town of al-Rai near the Turkish border. Three people were reportedly injured in the explosion.

SECOND VIDEO

The second video shows a roadside blast and has also been shared as an altered video claiming to be a footage of the Pulwama attack.

(Photo Courtesy: Facebook| Watch This Stuff) 

The video is viral on Facebook.(Photo: The Quint)

(Photo: Facebook| I Love Punjab)

FACT

The video, in fact, is from a 2007 roadside blast in Iraq.

Similar to the method above, a reverse google image search was used to trace the roots of the video. The earliest known footage is from 2007 according to the timestamp on the Youtube video below.

The earliest it was uploaded was on 20 February, 2008.

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