Not the Mali siege: Old images being shared on social media
- Published
As news about a siege at a hotel in Mali spreads, images related to the incident are being circulated on social media. In many cases the images are genuine - but in some they are not.
One of the pictures being shared on Twitter shows two security officials, one wearing a light blue security vest and a white helmet. But the picture is more than eight months old, and featured in numerous news articles, external after five people were killed in a gun attack on a restaurant in Bamako on the 7 March:
The twitter account First Draft, external has highlighted this with a tweet: "These old images are still being shared about today's #BamakoAttack in #Mali".
Another image showing two soldiers holding firearms has been retweeted dozens of times after the Twitter account Mali Actu, external attached it to an update about the number of hostages at the Radisson Blu Hotel. The image has also been used by several news outlets:
This picture featured in news articles dating back to 18 August 2015, external following violence in northern Mali where 20 separatists were killed by pro-government militia.
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