How Old Videos Are Fueling Misinformation About the Recent Abha Airport Attack

As tensions escalate between Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia, social media users are falsely sharing old videos as footage of the latest attack on Abha International Airport. 

On July 13, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels targeted Saudi Arabia’s Abha International Airport with ballistic missiles and drones. The attack was carried out in retaliation for earlier airstrikes on Sana’a International Airport in Yemen. According to reports, Saudi air defences intercepted the incoming missiles and drones, and no casualties were reported. However, the attack caused flight delays and cancellations. The strike was claimed by Yemen’s government, which said it wanted to prevent an Iranian plane from landing. 

Following this development, a flurry of misleading visuals has flooded social media, particularly X, with users falsely claiming that they depict the attack on Abha International Airport. Many users also took to the comments to post communal and racist remarks. OBC verified that the visuals are old and are being misleadingly shared as footage of the recent attack.

What are the claims being spread with the visuals?

On July 14, an X user, @SyedAbbasA3t, shared a video showing a fire or explosion. The caption read: “Yemen has struck Abha Airport and other cities in Saudi Arabia. Thousands of Umrah pilgrims from various countries are stranded and unable to return due to the war situation in the Middle East”. As of July 16, the post had garnered over 213,000 views, 2,400 likes, and 336 reposts.

The post also attracted several communal and inflammatory comments. One user wrote, “Muslims killing Muslims. Islam is the religion of peace 🤣”. Another commented, “Terrorists will do what terrorists do. I hope Saudis decide to unleash hell on Yemen”. Some users also urged the warring sides to “stop killing innocent Indians” caught in these skirmishes.

Another X account, @TMT_onlin, also shared the same visuals with the caption: “Abha Airport in Saudi Arabia is now out of service after the recent Yemeni shelling that destroyed it”. The video was posted on July 14 and, as of July 16, had amassed more than 1,88,000 views.

The same visuals have also been shared across Facebook and Instagram with similar claims.

How did we verify?

We conducted a reverse image search using keyframes from the viral video, which led us to a YouTube video uploaded by TRT World on March 26, 2022, titled ‘Saudi Aramco’s Jeddah oil depot hit by Houthi attack’. The video’s description states that ‘Saudi Arabia has carried out a barrage of airstrikes in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and the port city of Hudaida. It targeted Houthi rebels, who had earlier attacked an oil depot in the Saudi city of Jeddah. The attack on the state-owned oil company Aramco’s facility occurred while the city hosted a Formula One Grand Prix.

Upon further keyword searches, we found several other videos and news reports published by outlets such as Reuters and Al Jazeera confirming that the footage is from the 2022 attack on Saudi Aramco’s oil depot in Jeddah.

According to Al Jazeera, Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on Saudi Arabia after state media in the kingdom reported rocket and drone strikes targeting an oil depot in Jeddah and other facilities in Riyadh. ‘A huge plume of black smoke was seen rising from the plant in Jeddah, as the city prepared to host a Formula One race on Sunday’. Al Jazeera reported.

Another video shared by the Instagram account @prahar_global also claimed to show visuals from Abha International Airport after it was ‘hit by missiles’.

We conducted a reverse image search using keyframes from this video as well. It led us to a Facebook post published by Arabian Daily on July 8, 2021. The caption of the post read: ‘#BREAKING: Massive explosion on ship reported at Jebel Ali Port in Dubai’.

From the above findings, it is evident that the visuals being circulated as footage of the recent attack on Abha International Airport are actually old videos from 2021 and 2022. Although one of the older attacks was also claimed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, the viral visuals are entirely unrelated to the recent strike.

This is yet another instance of old, unrelated footage being repurposed during a conflict to spread misinformation, mislead the public, and amplify panic and confusion as a war or disaster unfolds.