Fake news is spreading worldwide. Fake news of war in Loikaw is going viral on social media. An account, Ei Myat Shwe Sin on Facebook posted a picture on 8^th January, 2022 with a caption, “This is Loikaw city. It’s not your city. Just pass by  #kayahstate crd”.

Loikaw is the capital of Kayah state in Mynamar. According to the claim the user’s claim, there’s combat in Loikaw.

Another user on Facebook posted the same picture claiming, “You guys won’t be hurt since it’s not Minyo city. If there is no wound, there is no data. You are so disgusted. This is Loikaw city. It’s not your city. Just pass by? #kayahstate?”

Fact check

The viral picture is of the Russian-Mongolian military exercise in Buryatia. The picture was posted on 30^th August, 2016 in Infpol.  A joint exercise of Russian and Mongolian troops known as ‘Selenga-2016’ took place in Buryatia. Around 1000 troops and up to 200 military units were involved in this annual event Selenga. The Selenga started in 2008 and the event involves tactical exercise and live fire known as  “Dharkhan” meaning a “builder” in Mongolian up until 2011.

Hence proving the claim is false and misleading as the picture is of Buryatia and not of Loikaw.

DFRAC Editor

Digital Forensics, Research and Analytics Centre (DFRAC) is a non-partisan and independent media organisation which focuses on fact-checking and identifying hate speech. With the popularisation of the internet came the challenge of information overload and often times, our feeds are overpopulated with conflicting, incendiary and false information which is increasingly becoming difficult to ignore and not believe in

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