A Facebook post shared on September 1, 2026, features a video purportedly showing drones striking Al Shabaab militants in Somalia. The video, accompanied by a Somali text that translates to "Allahu Akbar. Kill the Khawarij, they are the dogs of Hell," has been flagged as false by PesaCheck. The Somali government uses the term "Khawarij" to refer to Al Shabaab, an al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group operating in the country.
The claim emerged as federal government forces and their international partners continue carrying out airstrikes against Al Shabaab militant bases in Somalia. However, a Google reverse image search using a keyframe from the clip led PesaCheck to the original video, reported to be aerial footage released by the Houthi Military Media Center. The footage allegedly shows explosions and munitions being dropped on Saudi military positions in Yemen.
A comparison between the video under investigation and the original footage shows similar settings, including buildings, terrain, and the sequence of events. However, the version shared with the claim about Al Shabaab was cropped, removing the Houthi group's logo that appeared in the original video. This suggests that the video was not recorded in Somalia, but rather in Yemen.
The Somali government is fighting Al Shabaab, while Yemen's internationally recognised government and allied forces have been fighting the Iran-backed Houthi movement. PesaCheck's findings indicate that the video does not show an airstrike on Al Shabaab militants in Somalia, but rather an incident in Yemen.
PesaCheck is East Africa's first public finance fact-checking initiative, co-founded by Catherine Gicheru and Justin Arenstein. The organisation seeks to help the public separate fact from fiction in public pronouncements about the numbers that shape our world. PesaCheck is an initiative of Code for Africa, through its innovateAFRICA fund, with support from Deutsche Welle Akademie.
The fact-check was written by PesaCheck Fact-Checker Hassan Istiila and edited by PesaCheck senior copy editors Mary Mutisya and Cédrick Irakoze. The article was approved for publication by PesaCheck managing editor Doreen Wainainah. PesaCheck has examined several Facebook posts with videos claiming to show airstrikes on Al Shabaab targets and found them to be false.
The public can report suspicious content on Facebook, and PesaCheck is working to sort fact from fiction by partnering with Facebook and similar social media platforms. The organisation provides deeper insight and context to posts that appear in social media feeds, helping the public make informed decisions about the information they consume.
Key points
- The video claiming to show an airstrike on Al Shabaab militants in Somalia was actually recorded in Yemen.
- PesaCheck used a Google reverse image search to verify the authenticity of the video.
- The organisation is working to combat misinformation on social media platforms, including Facebook.
