Old video of different incident circulated as army-UPDF gunfight in Sajek
A video claiming to show gunfire between the Bangladesh Army and the United People’s Democratic Front (UPDF) in Sajek, Rangamati, was spread on Facebook. However, Dismislab’s fact-check found that it is not footage of the recent clash in Sajek. The same footage was found in a news report published last July about a military conflict in Myanmar.
The eight-second video was posted on Oct 22 from a Facebook profile named Ricky Rocky. It claimed, “It has been learned that a clash took place between the Bangladesh Army and the UPDF in the Baghaichhari union of Sajek, Rangamati.” The same post also claimed that tourists were attacked and that two army personnel were injured and several UPDF members were shot during the clash. The video shows several individuals firing gunshots in a forest. As of this report’s publication, the post had received nearly 1,500 reactions and more than 40 comments, and the video had been shared more than 250 times.
A reverse image search was conducted using several keyframes from the video. This led to the discovery of the same footage in a video report published on July 8 on the Facebook page of the Myanmar-based news outlet Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB). Between the 23- and 26-second marks of that video report, several armed individuals can be seen firing gunshots in a forest. The positions of the individuals, their weapons and the surrounding vegetation match the scene in the video recently circulating on Facebook. The same video report was also found on the outlet’s YouTube channel. According to its caption and title, the DVB report was about a military conflict in Phapun (Hpapun), a town in Myanmar’s Karen State.
A report was also published on the outlet’s website the same day. It said Myanmar’s military was advancing toward Phapun, and forces allied with the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) were carrying out attacks to halt that advance.
In addition, a badge is visible on the sleeve of one armed individual’s uniform in the video. The lower part of the badge has three sections in blue, white and red. The upper part features a red-and-white emblem. Because the image is unclear, Dismislab could not confirm which force the badge belongs to.
According to the party constitution published on UPDF’s own website, the organization’s flag has red sections at the top and bottom, with a blue section in the middle containing a white star. The party uses a bow and arrow as its monogram. The flag published on the website of the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS), by contrast, has a yellow star along with its white and red sections, and the organization’s monogram is also published separately. The badge seen in the video does not match either organization’s badge. No visible match was found with the Bangladesh Army’s uniform or badges either.
In other words, the circulating video has no connection to the recent gunfire in Sajek. The same footage appeared in a DVB video report more than three months earlier. However, Dismislab could not confirm exactly where the video was filmed or which force the individuals seen in it belong to.
It is worth noting that the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Bangladesh’s armed forces media wing, said a gunfight took place between security forces and the UPDF in the Gangaram Bazar area of Sajek, Rangamati, on Oct 22. However, according to a news report, the UPDF has denied the allegation. Dismislab has previously published fact-check reports on the ongoing situation in Sajek.
All social media captions, quotations, and news excerpts in this article have been translated into English from the languages in which they were originally posted or published.
