A video showing a masked man among a group of armed men in uniform carrying a woman, while others film the scene, has been shared online with claims that it depicts events following the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. The posts allege that terrorists kidnapped an innocent Kurdish woman to make her a sex slave during the ongoing unrest. However, these claims are false. The video actually dates back to October 2019 and shows Cicek Kobane, a fighter from the Kurdish Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), being captured by a Turkey-backed militia during clashes in Ain al-Issa, Northeast Syria.
Sharing the video on X (Formerly Twitter) propagandist account @ajaychauhan41 wrote. “Islamic extremists in Syrian Kurdistan are kidnapping Kurdish girls to rape and make them sex slaves”
सीरिया में कुर्दिस्तान में इस्लामिक चरमपंथी कुर्दिश लड़कियों को बलात्कार करने और सेक्स स्लैव बनाने के लिए किडनैप करके ले जा रहे हैं pic.twitter.com/tJSINTOvXO
— हम लोग We The People 🇮🇳 (@ajaychauhan41) December 5, 2024
Another propaganda account @jpsin1 also shared the video and wrote. “See how Turkish Muslims are kidnapping Kurdish Muslim girls in the Kurdish area of Syria to rape them and make them sex slaves.”
https://x.com/jpsin1/status/1864616672331514023
Several other users, influencers and propagandists have also disseminated the video and made similar claims. Their posts can be seen here, @INarsinghvani, @drhossamsamy65, @mvmeet, @anitavladivoski, @ManojSr60583090, @Almustaner_Yam, @iamramanzada
The truth about the viral video, Fact Check
As soon as the posts containing the sensitive video and claims came to our notice. Subsequently, we conducted research and analysis of the video. We found that the video was not recent, but an old incident from October 2019.
To verify the claims made by the users. We performed a reverse image search of some key frames from the viral video using Google Lens. This led us to media reports containing the same visuals uploaded in October 2019. According to the media reports (1, 2, 3), this video is from October 2019 and shows Kurdish Women’s Protection Unit (YPJ) fighter Cicek Kobane being captured by a Turkey-backed militia in Ain al-Issa, Northeast Syria. As per the reports, Cicek Kobane was accused of war crimes. It is unrelated to the current unrest.
Therefore, it is evident from D-Intent Data’s Fact Check that the viral video was not recent but an old incident from 2019 and unrelated to an innocent Kurdish woman.
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— D-Intent Data (@dintentdata) December 21, 2024
ANALYSIS: Misleading
FACT: An old video showing a group of armed men in uniform carrying a woman & filming the incident has been shared with misleading claims that it depicts the recent Syria unrest.The claim alleges that terrorists kidnapped an innocent Kurdish woman(1/3) pic.twitter.com/qgD1rGwMyS
Intent
Influencers and propagandists are circulating old videos from Syria with misleading claims to set their narrative over the ongoing unrest in the country.
Conclusion
Claim– In a recent incident, Extremists kidnapped an innocent Kurdish woman to make her a sex slave in Syria.
Fact – This video is not recent but an old incident from October 2019. It is unrelated to an innocent Kurdish woman or sex slave.
Related Article: Fact Check: Old video of road collapse from Turkey falsely shared as India – D-Intent Data
