Old photo spreads as reinforcements arriving in Hama

Accounts on “X” recently published a photo of military vehicles, claiming that they were military reinforcements that had arrived in Hama to confront the opposition factions. The photo was accompanied by the following description: “Breaking: Large military reinforcements have arrived in the city of Hama to reinforce the forces on the front lines confronting the militants.”

Kashif verified the image via “Google Images” tool and found that it is old and was incorrectly linked to the arrival of military reinforcements to the city of Hama. The image dates back to a shipment of Turkish armored vehicles that arrived at the Syrian border in 2017. 

Anadolu Agency published a report on 16/9/2017 that included the circulated photo along with photos from different angles of the same event. The report stated that a shipment of armored military vehicles had arrived at the Syrian border as reinforcements for the forces on the Syrian border. The report stated that the photo was taken by photographer “Oğuz Pakin” in the Reyhanli region of Hatay.

SPUTNIK stated in a report that included the circulated image, published on 21/9/2017, that “1Ten armored personnel carriers from different Turkish units were moved to Hatay to reinforce the forces on the Syrian border.” The report added, “Eight trucks loaded with military construction equipment crossed through the Cilvegozu border gate to support the military units.”

The Syrian opposition factions announced that their forces are now at the entrances to the city of Hama in the center of the country from three axes, and that they have taken control of 18 villages and towns in the countryside of the province, becoming six kilometers away from the city of Hama, the center of the province.

For its part, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported, quoting a military source, that “large military reinforcements have arrived in the city of Hama to reinforce the forces on the front lines to confront any possible attack attempt.”