This viral video shows a military exercise conducted by the Houthis in Yemen in March 2024
A video (here, here, here, and here) showing an ambush on a convoy of military vehicles is being widely shared on social media, with the claim that it depicts a recent Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) attack on the Pakistani Army. In this article, we will fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: The video shows a Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) attack on a Pakistan Army convoy.
Fact: This viral video has no connection to the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) or Pakistan. It actually shows a military exercise conducted by the Houthi group in Yemen in March 2024. During this exercise, the Houthi forces carried out military manoeuvres simulating the storming of Israeli sites and the targeting of American and British forces. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
To obtain details about the viral video, we conducted a Google reverse image search using keyframes from the clip. This search led us to an extended version of the viral video uploaded on the official YouTube channel of the Middle Eastern media outlet, ‘Al Araby TV’. The video was uploaded on 21 April 2024 with the title: “Watch: Houthi group conducts military manoeuvres simulating storming Israeli sites and targeting American and British forces” (translated from Arabic to English).
At the timestamp 03:13 in this video, the exact visuals as seen in the viral clip are clearly visible. According to the video description, it relates to a military exercise conducted by Houthi forces in March 2024. During this exercise, the Houthis carried out military manoeuvres simulating the storming of Israeli sites and the targeting of American and British forces.
Upon close observation of this video, we noticed a logo containing Arabic script. A reverse image search of the logo led us to an X (formerly Twitter) account, @MMY1444, which displays the same logo. Additionally, there is a website, mmy.ye, featuring the same logo. Further investigation revealed that mmy.ye is the official media platform of the Yemeni Military Media, affiliated with the Houthi movement (Ansar Allah). The X (formerly Twitter) account @MMY1444 is also linked to the Houthis.
Furthermore, we found that the full-length version of this viral video was shared on 10 March 2024 on the X (formerly Twitter) account and website associated with the Houthi forces (here, here). According to the video description, it depicts military exercises conducted by Yemen’s (Houthi) Sixth Military Region Reserve Forces on 10 March 2024. During this exercise, various units and divisions of the Sixth Military Region Reserve Forces carried out manoeuvres simulating the storming of Israeli sites and the targeting of American and British forces. From all this information, it is clear that the viral video is not related to the Balochistan Liberation Army or Pakistan.
To sum it up, this viral video shows a military exercise conducted by the Houthis in Yemen in March 2024.