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  • 2021-08-25 (xsd:date)
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  • Video shows Taliban capturing Kandahar, not Kabul (tl)
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  • A video has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times in multiple Facebook and Twitter posts that claim it shows a crowd welcoming Taliban fighters in the Afghan capital Kabul. The claim is false: the video was filmed after the Taliban seized Afghanistan's second-largest city, Kandahar. The video was shared in a Facebook post on August 15, 2021. It reads: The people of Kabul come out from their houses for the welcome of Taliban and gathered on the entry gate of Kabul. This is different from what media tells us. This shows that peoples of Afghanistan are with Taliban. #Kabul #KabulHasFallen #AfghanTaliban. The video shows a crowd gathered on the street. A man speaking off-camera says: You can see that people have come out to welcome mujahedin [the Taliban]. Praise to Allah, people are very happy. A screenshot taken on August 24, 2021, of the misleading Facebook post The video was also shared alongside a similar claim in Facebook posts here , here and here; and on Twitter here, where it was viewed more than 227,000 times. However, the claim is false. The video actually shows Afghanistan's second-largest city, Kandahar, after the Taliban seized power. Kandahar is situated 500 kilometres (300 miles) southwest of Kabul. Visual clues in the footage correspond with AFP photos of Kandahar. In the clip, there is a prominent arch, electricity mast and a beige building. AFP has circled these elements in the video (left) and in an AFP photo taken in the city on August 13 (right): Screenshot comparison of the video shared in misleading posts (left) and an AFP photo (right) The arch in the video is the Eidgah Darwaza, a historic gate in Kandahar. It can also be seen in this photo uploaded to Google Maps in 2016 and Instagram posts from 2018 and 2019 . View this post on Instagram A post shared by Afghanistan Kandahar (@afg.kdh) The arch can also be seen towards the end of this report by French broadcaster France 24 about the fall of Kandahar. The Taliban captured Kandahar on August 13, two days before they seized power in Kabul. AFP has previously debunked various false claims about the conflict in Afghanistan. (en)
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