Video from Kuwait showing mock drill shared as attack on Sultan of Oman - Alt News
Arjun Sidharth
20th December 2019 / 6:02 pm
A video is being shared widely on WhatsApp and social media platforms with the claim that the Sultan of Oman was attacked.
ઓમાન ના સુલતાન પર ઘાતકી હુમલો.. અદ્ભૂત બચાવ
Posted by Jaman Amlani on Tuesday, December 17, 2019
The 0:59 minute video has primarily been shared with a message in Gujarati- ઓમાન ના સુલતાન પર ઘાતકી હુમલો.. અદ્ભૂત બચાવ (Sultan of Oman attacked…miraculous escape- translation). It shows a person, presumably the Sultan, being escorted by security personnel before gunshots are fired and he is quickly whisked away. Several Facebook users have posted the video with identical text.
Numerous users of the official Alt News app have requested verification of this video, which has also been circulated with a message in English- “Attack on Sultan of Oman“.
Alt News found the same video posted on Twitter on December 19. The tweet claims that the video shows an attempted assassination of the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. It has been retweeted over 4500 times already.
Watch an attempted assassination of the Saudi crown prince in Riyadh 🤯 pic.twitter.com/sUGOZmarQj
— We 🇺🇸 The 🇺🇸 People ⚖️ (@45HarisonHarold) December 19, 2019
Alt News found the accompanying social media claims false. The video represents not an assassination attempt on the Sultan of Oman or the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. It shows a mock drill conducted by security personnel. This is indicated by the fact that people present at the scene are shooting the event on their mobile phones, as can be seen in the video.
After breaking up the video into multiple key-frames, Alt News reverse-searched one of the frames on Google and came across an article on a Lebanese news website, www.annahar.com. The report of December 13, 2019 states that the video is from Kuwait, and fact-checks the claim that the speaker of the Kuwaiti Parliament was attacked. According to the article, the security personnel seen in the video are Kuwait Emiri Guard, an elite combat unit of the Kuwaiti armed forces, who are conducting a mock drill in Kuwait. Alt News also found other reports stating the same.
It may thus be noted the claim that the Sultan of Oman was attacked, is false. The video is from Kuwait and represents a mock drill conducted by security personnel.
Arjun Sidharth is a writer with Alt News. He has previously worked in the television news industry, where he managed news bulletins and breaking news scenarios, apart from scripting numerous prime time television stories. He has also been actively involved with various freelance projects. Sidharth has studied economics, political science, international relations and journalism. He has a keen interest in books, movies, music, sports, politics, foreign policy, history and economics. His hobbies include reading, watching movies and indoor gaming.
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