Soldiers burnt alive: Video was released by IS in 2016; not linked to ongoing war

Abira Das

Oct 19

The story uses only screenshots and not actual tweets in view of the graphic nature of the viral video.

Amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, a video clip depicting two chained soldiers being burned alive has gone viral on social media. Many social media users have shared the video claiming that the atrocity was committed by Hamas militants against Israeli soldiers.

At the 1:45 mark of the clip, a man can be heard speaking with Arabic texts superimposed on the video translating to, "Allah hu Akbar! We have taken the revenge of Muslims. If you do not withdraw your soldiers, their fate will be like this. You will get used to this view and you will see them being burned by our hands and you will put your finger in your ears so that you do not hear their screams. If you do not leave the lands of the Islamic State, these lands will be graves for your soldiers. You will regret entering it. What is coming is worse and worse. So wait, we are with you waiting. You have burned Muslims, the Turkish government. You opened the US Incirlik base. From there, American planes launched and bombed the soldiers of the Islamic State. This will be your fate, God willing. As you did to our brothers." The killer later pours fuel over the burning bodies of two uniformed men.

Former media head and spokesperson of BJP in Delhi Naveen Kumar Jindal has shared the video with the caption," See the cruel face of Hamas terrorists This video of inhuman and diabolical actions has been made by the terrorists of Hamas in which two Israeli soldiers were tied with chains, wrapped in gunpowder on their bodies and set on fire and they are dying in agony. But still some traitors are supporting Hamas. It is very important to eliminate Hamas terrorists, we all should support @Israel." The tweet has received over 1,24,300 views, 3,174 likes and close to 5,000 retweets. (Archived)

Several social media users have shared it on X (formerly Twitter), including user Amitabh Chaudhary (@MitilaWaala), who has been found sharing misinformation on the platform several times in the past.

Fact Check

We first noticed that a black emblem was visible on the top right corner of the video almost throughout, which resembled the ISIS flag. Comparison below:

We broke down the viral video into key-frames using Invid software and then reverse-searched one of them on Google. This led us to a 2016 report by Turkish Minute, titled 'ISIL allegedly burns 2 Turkish soldiers to death'.

The report, which carries a still from the viral video, states, "The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) allegedly burned alive two Turkish soldiers who it took hostage three weeks ago in the al-Bab region of northern Syria. Solhaber has identified the soldiers as Fethi Şahin and Sefer Taş. A news agency linked to ISIL said on Nov. 29 that ISIL forces had taken two Turkish soldiers captive in al-Bab. Photos and a video allegedly of the two soldiers were shared online on ISIL accounts late on Thursday."

Another 2016 report by Alarabiya News, titled 'ISIS video shows Turkish troops 'burned alive', too carries a still from the currently viral clip. It states, "ISIS militants on Thursday released a video purporting to show two captured Turkish soldiers being burned alive. The video, showing two uniformed men being hauled from a cage before being bound and torched, was posted on militant websites." The report further added that "The 19-minute footage was purportedly shot in the ISIS-declared "Aleppo Province" in northern Syria. Speaking in Turkish, the killer of the two men verbally attacks Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and calls for "destruction to be sowed" in Turkey."

The incident was also reported by Al Jazeera, AFP, BBC, and VOA News amongst other media outlets.

To sum up, a video depicting two chained soldiers being torched to death went viral on social media with several users claiming that the atrocity was committed by the Hamas militants against the Israeli soldiers amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. However, our fact-check revealed that the video was released by ISIS in 2016 when ISIS terrorists had executed two Turkish soldiers in Syria.

Abira Das is an intern at Alt News.

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