Claim MISLEADING

The truth about a video said to show infighting among Syrian government forces in Al-Sanamayn

The truth about a video said to show infighting among Syrian government forces in Al-Sanamayn

Illustrative image

Accounts on social media circulated a video, with those posting it claiming that it documented internal clashes between what they described as Jolani gangs, in a reference to the current Syrian government forces, against the background of a struggle to divide power and influence in Al-Sanamayn in the Daraa countryside.

The circulating video from the Al-Sanamayn clashes

The fact-checking team followed up on the report and reviewed Syrian official, media and local sources, and found that the clashes did in fact take place in the city of Al-Sanamayn, between the Syrian internal security forces on one side and a cell belonging to the ISIS organisation, which is designated on terrorism lists, on the other.

Why is this claim misleading?

Changing the context: The claim relied on republishing video clips of the Al-Sanamayn clashes while attaching a new assertion that takes them out of their original substantive framing, in order to suggest that what took place was internal fighting among government forces.