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  • 2022-02-11 (xsd:date)
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  • Old photo of Myanmar protest shared with false claim about anti-junta 'bomb attack' in 2022 (en)
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  • An image of a smoke-filled street is circulating in social media posts that claim it shows the aftermath of a bomb attack by anti-coup activists on an office belonging to Myanmar's state electricity company in January 2022. However, the claim is false. The image has circulated in news reports about a protest in Yangon in March 2021. The scene at Hlaing Tharyar EPC office looks so beautiful. This is what you get for raising meter fees and cutting off electricity. Revolution must win, reads this Burmese-language Facebook post from January 29, 2022. Hlaing Tharyar is a township in Yangon, the biggest city in Myanmar. EPC refers to Electricity Power Corporation , the old name of the state power company which is still used by people in the country. Screenshot of the misleading post taken on February 1, 2022 The claim circulated online after HTY Information, a popular Facebook news page in Myanmar , reported on January 28, 2022, that anti-coup forces had released a statement saying they had carried out bomb attacks on two EPC offices in Hlaing Tharyar. AFP cannot independently verify whether those attacks took place and they were not reported by major news outlets. The offices of the state electricity company have been targeted by anti-coup groups since the junta threatened to cut power to those who refused to pay bills as part of a civil disobedience movement. The photo was shared in similar Facebook posts here , here , here and here . However, the photo does not show an attack in January 2022. A reverse image search and keyword searches on Google found the photo in a Burmese-language report by news website The Irrawaddy on March 14, 2021, shortly after the military seized power in the February coup. The report is headlined: At least 10 dead today from crackdown by police and military forces. At least 10 people died and many were injured across the country today when the police and the armed forces fired live rounds at protesters who took part in nationwide strikes against the military coup, it reported. Four people died and more than 30 were injured after police and soldiers violently attacked and fired at protest camps at Hlaing Tharyar township, district 1, 3 and 5, today (March 14) starting around 12pm. Meanwhile, the photo caption reads: The burning of barriers at protest camps in Hlaing Tharyar. Below is a screenshot comparison of the image from the misleading post (L) and the image in the Irrawaddy news report (R): Screenshot comparison of the image from the misleading post (L) and the image in the Irrawaddy report (R) A doctor told AFP at the time that at least 15 people had died after police and soldiers clashed violently with protesters in Hlaing Tharyar township on March 14, 2021. The two EPC offices in Hlaing Tharyar are close to each other — seen here and here on Google Maps — and they are located around 3.5 km northwest from the building seen in the misleading posts. (en)
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