Pages on social media circulated a photo whose publishers claimed it documented counter-terrorism units "YAT" arresting gunmen in the Ghweiran neighbourhood of the city of Hasakah.
The fact-checking team verified the claim by contacting local sources in the area, which confirmed that counter-terrorism units had not entered the neighbourhood. Digital tracing of the photo also showed that it dates back to a security operation carried out by the units, in cooperation with the Syrian Democratic Forces, against "ISIS" cells in the village of Sabkha in the Shaddadi countryside south of Hasakah, on 16/06/2023.
Why is this claim misleading?
Out of temporal and geographic context: The claim relied on a photo dating back to a security operation carried out in the village of Sabkha in the Shaddadi countryside on 16/06/2023, and recirculated it as documentation of an arrest in the Ghweiran neighbourhood of Hasakah, in order to suggest that a current security incident had taken place in the neighbourhood.
