Social media accounts recently posted a video of a huge fire, claiming that it was the result of Russian airstrikes targeting opposition faction gatherings in Syria.
Kashif verified the video via “Google Images” tool and found that it is old and wrongly linked to Russia’s recent targeting of opposition factions’ gatherings. The video documents fires resulting from targeting oil refineries in the Aleppo countryside in March 2021.
The Asharq Al-Awsat account for Syria posted the video on Facebook on 3/5/2021, accompanied by the following text: “A missile attack targets the oil market in the Tarhin area in the city of Al-Bab in the Aleppo countryside, and strong explosions shake the area, coinciding with a similar attack targeting the oil market in the Al-Hamran area in the Jarablus countryside in the Aleppo countryside.”
On 5/3/2021, Al-Ghad channel published a TV report on YouTube that included the circulated video. The channel stated in the video description that “explosions were heard in the cities of Al-Bab and Jarabulus in northern Syria as a result of a missile falling on an oil refining area north of the city of Al-Bab in the areas controlled by the armed opposition in the northern Aleppo countryside.”
The National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces account on Facebook also published the video on 5/3/2021, with the following text: “Bombardment with dozens of missiles targets oil refineries in the town of Tarhin in the countryside of the city of Al-Bab, east of Aleppo.”
A report published by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on 5/3/2021 stated that “the death toll rose to 4, and 24 others were injured with varying degrees of severity and burns, in addition to information about other deaths and injuries, as a result of targeting refineries and an oil market in both Tarhin and Al-Hamran, within the areas of influence of the Turkish forces and the factions loyal to them in the northern countryside of Aleppo, with surface-to-surface missiles from Russian warships, and military barracks affiliated with the regime in Aleppo.”
The Russian army announced on Sunday 1/12/2024 that it “is helping the Syrian army repel opposition factions in three northern provinces of the country, as part of Moscow’s support for President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.”
Russian and Syrian fighter jets targeted the city of Idlib with air strikes on Sunday and Monday 2/12/2024.
