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Video From Myanmar Falsely Shared as 'Kuki Terrorists' Using Drones in Manipur

This videos shows commandos from Myanmar using drone cameras and not people from the Kuki community.

Published
WebQoof
3 min read
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A video showing a man in a black combat uniform holding a drone camera is being shared on the internet. The clip then shows drone footage of villages, farms, and forests is being shared on the internet.

What's the claim?: The claim states that this video is from Manipur and shows 'Kuki terrorists' navigating the Manipur police to attack them.

The state has seen a series of violent clashes since May, where over 90 people have died.

This videos shows commandos from Myanmar using drone cameras and not people from the Kuki community.

An archive can be seen here.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

What's the truth?: This video showing the men in uniform are commandos from the Chinland Defense Force (CDF) Thantlang from Myanmar.

  • However, the visuals of the bird's eye view showing the landscape are indeed from Manipur.

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How did we find out the truth?: We performed a reverse image search on some of the keyframes of the video and came across a YouTube video.

  • This video was shared by an Australian news outlet, ABC News In-depth on 18 August 2022.

  • The video was a documentary on Myanmar and rebel group, Chinland Defense Force (CDF).

  • At 15:41 timestamp, the part seen in the viral part starts playing.

  • We compared the viral video with the YouTube video and found similarities.

This videos shows commandos from Myanmar using drone cameras and not people from the Kuki community.

Comparison of visuals, the original video is from Myanmar. 

(Source: Altered by The Quint)

  • The video continues and shows ABC reporter Matt Davis explaining CDF was formed in 2021 and young people were recruited.

  • Further, the video shows a man, with a gun, standing besides a board which reads, "THANTLAND BATTALION, CAMP VUICHIP".

This videos shows commandos from Myanmar using drone cameras and not people from the Kuki community.

Screenshot from the documentary. 

(Source: ABC/Screenshot)

Where is the drone footage from?: Although the starting ten seconds from the viral video were from Myanmar showing CDF, the rest of the visuals from the drone were indeed from Manipur.

  • On performing a relevant keyword search, we came across a 24 minutes video uploaded on YouTube.

  • The video was shared by 'Lamka Talk', a news outlet based in Manipur on 29 May.

  • The title of the video read, "Drone footage shows involvement of state police commandos in attacking Tribal villages in Manipur."

  • We compared the visuals from the viral video to the YouTube video and found similarities.

  • (Note: Swipe to see all of them.)

  • Comparison of visuals from Manipur.

    (Source: Altered by The Quint)

  • We also reached out to C Lian Langel, who runs Lamka Talk who told us that the drone footage shows Kangvai, Changpikot area in Churachandpur district of Manipur.

Conclusion: Edited video merging clips from Myanmar and Manipur have gone viral to claim that 'Kuki terrorists' are using drone cameras in Manipur. 

(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9643651818, or e-mail it to us at webqoof@thequint.com and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.

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