No, this video does not show an armed gang about to attack Burkina Faso

Published on : 11/11/2021 – 17:59

A video of a column of vehicles and armed men has been circulating since October 10 on several Facebook accounts. It is often presented as the announcement of an imminent attack by “armed gangs” on Burkina Faso, but it is in fact images dating from April 2021 and shot in Mali.

“Urgent: Burkina Faso in extreme danger”. On October 10, 2021, the Facebook account beausale.info published a video accompanied by an alarmist legend. These images, cumulating nearly ten thousand views, show a large column of pick-ups and armed men, who, according to beausale.info, are on their way to Burkina Faso. But this claim is false. The verification site Africa Check has demonstrated that this video was filmed in the region of Gao, Mali, and actually dates from April.

A recycled video

To find the original video, you have to use the comments responding to beausale.info. Some users write for example: “It was in Kidal last year”. This trail is very useful and can be verified through Google Images. By performing a reverse image search from a screenshot of this publication (see how to proceed here), and adding the keyword “kidal”, we actually locate a Facebook post from April 2021 – but not of 2020 as the comment would suggest.

There is exactly the same video that was initially broadcast by the account of Almou Ag-Mohamed, a user posing as the spokesperson for the High Council for the Unity of Azawad (HCUA). Several indices allow us to verify that this armed group operating since 2013 in northern Mali is the author of the video. The most important is undoubtedly the yellow and green flag flown by one of the vehicles. It is found on many other publications of the same account and is presented as the standard of the HCUA.

The flag of the HCUA is identifiable on the video

So on what occasion were these show of force images taken? According to his page, the HCUA met on April 9, 2021 to finalize its merger with two other armed groups. This event gave rise to the publication ofa statement, and it was reported by the MaliActu.net news site. Contacted by AfricaCheck, Almou Ag-Mohamed confirmed that, as his caption indicates, the video was filmed during the parade organized the day after this merger.

In summary

This video was therefore filmed in April 2021 and has no connection with an imminent and above all imaginary invasion of Burkina Faso.

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