Accounts on “X” recently published a photo showing a huge fire, claiming that it was airstrikes launched by warplanes in the Hama countryside. The photo was accompanied by the following description: “Breaking: Dozens of militants killed and their equipment and vehicles destroyed in the Hama countryside as a result of warplane and missile strikes.”
Kashif verified the image via “Google Images” tool and found that it is old and was incorrectly linked to the Syrian Ministry of Defense’s announcement of the killing of dozens of opposition factions in the Hama countryside. The image dates back to a missile attack launched by the Israeli occupation army on the coastal port of Latakia in Syria in 2021.
The Associated Press published the photo on 28/12/2021, and explained that the photo was published by the official Syrian news agency SANA, and the photo was accompanied by the following description: “Flames and smoke rise from burning containers at the site of a missile attack in the coastal port of Latakia, Syria, early Tuesday, 12/28/2021.”
At the time, AP quoted Syrian media as saying that “Israeli missiles launched from the Mediterranean Sea hit the Syrian port of Latakia, causing a fire to break out in the container terminal.”
The Syrian Ministry of Defense announced on 4/12/2024 that the joint Syrian-Russian warplanes, artillery and missile forces carried out concentrated strikes targeting gatherings and axes of movement of opposition factions in the Hama countryside. The strikes resulted in the deaths of dozens and the destruction of their equipment and vehicles, according to the Ministry of Defense.
| Sources of Claim | Sources of Verification |
| Events in Syria, the martyr Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi | Associated Press Syrian Ministry of Defense |
