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  • 2021-11-29 (xsd:date)
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  • Old photo of military convoy wreckage recirculates in India after militant attack in 2021 (en)
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  • A photo has been shared hundreds of times in social media posts that claim it shows a militant attack on an army convoy in India's northeastern Manipur state in November 2021. The claim is false: the picture shows a different attack in the same state in June 2015. The attack on the army convoy by terrorists in Singhat in the Churachandpur district of Manipur shows the cowardice of the enemies of this country, reads a Hindi-language Facebook post from November 14. I salute the seven brave soldiers of Assam Rifles who were martyred. May the wounded heroes have a speedy recovery. We are grateful and indebted to you. The whole country's condolences are with the families. Those cowardly attackers won't be spared. #Manipur. Screenshot of the misleading post, taken November 23, 2021 Manipur is a state in northeastern India close to the country's border with Myanmar. Seven people were killed -- including a commander and his family members -- in an attack on paramilitary force the Assam Rifles on November 13 in Singhat, a constituency in Manipur's Churachandpur district. Militant groups the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the Manipur Naga People's Front (MNPF) claimed responsibility for the attack, the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency reported . The seven states that make up India's northeast region are home to dozens of tribal groups and guerrilla armies demanding greater autonomy or independence from India. The photo circulated alongside a similar claim on Facebook here , here and here ; and on Twitter here , here and here . However, the claim is false. A Google reverse image search followed by a keyword search found the photo was taken by AFP on June 4, 2015. Screenshot of the genuine photo from AFP's image archives The photo caption reads: In this photograph taken on June 4, 2015, Indian security personnel stand alongside the smouldering vehicle wreckage at the scene of an attack on a military convoy in a remote area of Chandel district, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) southwest of northeastern Manipur's state capital Imphal. Heavily armed rebels in India's restive northeast killed at least 20 troops on June 4, police said, in one of the area's worst such attacks in years. Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo used in the misleading posts (left) and the photo on AFP's image archive (right): Screenshot comparison of the photo used in the misleading posts (left) and the photo on AFP's image archives (right) The image was published in an AFP report from June 10, 2015. The report's headline reads: India army hunts down rebels after deadly ambush. India said militants belonging to a faction of National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) -- a separatist group in India's northeast -- were responsible for the attack in which 20 soldiers were killed. At least 50,000 people have lost their lives in insurgency-driven violence in six of India's seven northeastern states since India's independence from Britain in 1947, authorities say. (en)
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