Pages and accounts on social media circulated a report claiming that an infiltration attempt carried out by groups of General Security members together with tribesmen toward the town of al-Majdal in the Sweida countryside had been foiled, alleging that the clashes resulted in the arrest of one infiltrator and the killing of another, in addition to the wounding of a member of the attacked force, while another participant managed to flee.
The fact-checking team contacted its correspondent in Sweida and reviewed cross-referenced accounts from local sources, and found that field information indicates a group affiliated with the National Guard militia was the party that carried out the infiltration toward government-controlled areas and targeted three tribal shepherds as they were grazing their sheep north of the town of al-Mazraa, killing one of them, Abu Atef Ayed al-Nader (70), and wounding another, while Abu Mohammad Salem al-Wadi (75) went missing.
The correspondent added that the incident was accompanied by the seizure of around 300 head of sheep before the group withdrew from the area, which exposes the mismatch between the circulating claim and the facts established on the ground.
Why is this claim misleading?
Misrepresenting the content and inverting the roles: The circulating narrative reversed the roles of the two parties to the incident, attributing the infiltration to General Security members and tribesmen while casting the militia as the side that repelled the attack, whereas field information indicates the militia-affiliated group was the one that initiated the targeting, done to invert the image of aggressor and victim and mislead the public about what actually took place.
