Yemen: Fact-checking videos claiming to show Houthi rebel attacks

A video claiming to show Houthi rebels ambushing Saudi-backed mercenaries has racked up major views on X. But the FRANCE 24 Observers found it is actually footage of 2024 Houthi military drills. The clip was edited with football commentary and blurred flags, which originally show Israel, the UK and US, not Saudi Arabia. Other viral videos falsely linked to Houthi attacks on a Saudi Aramco refinery were also traced to unrelated fires in Texas and Russia. Vedika Bahl fact-checks in Truth or Fake. Pro-Russian and Arabic-speaking accounts have been falsely sharing a video claiming to show Iran-backed Houthi rebels ambushing Saudi-backed mercenaries, the forces allied with Yemen’s internationally recognised government. The viral video shows a convoy travelling through what appears to be a desert landscape before several vehicles are engulfed in explosions. The footage is difficult to make out, while the audio appears to feature an excited commentator cheering as the vehicles go up in flames. But the video does not show a Houthi ambush of Saudi-backed forces, and it has no connection to the current offensive. Instead, it shows a military exercise filmed in 2024. We were able to trace the...