{"id":350181,"date":"2018-02-28T13:38:34","date_gmt":"2018-02-28T12:38:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/?p=350181"},"modified":"2018-02-28T13:38:34","modified_gmt":"2018-02-28T12:38:34","slug":"british-media-publish-hoaxes-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/politics\/british-media-publish-hoaxes-syria\/","title":{"rendered":"How British Media Publish Hoaxes on Syria"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Guardian article from February 6, 2018, titled \u201cBiggest airstrikes in a year hit Syria after rebels shoot down Russian jet<\/a>\u201d claims that \u201cRussian and Syrian jets have bombed up to 18 towns across north-west Syria, devastating civilian areas and forcing fresh waves of refugees to flee\u201d. According to the journalists Martin Chulov and Kareem Shahee, a series of devastating airstrikes have been carried out in the northwest of Idlib province. \u201cNine people were treated for symptoms of chlorine exposure after a bomb was dropped on the town of Saraqeb by a helicopter\u201d, they claim.
\nInside Syria Media Center<\/a> has tried to get to the bottom of the adequacy of this information and determine whether it is credible.<\/p>\n

Fake No.1 Mission Impossible<\/p>\n

According to The Guardian journalists, \u201cas many as 150 airstrikes beginning on Sunday were recorded in 18 towns of Idlib province by Monday\u201d. Trying to imagine the number of attacks carried out without interruption for 12 hours we came to the conclusion that Idlib Governorate, in the view of The Guardian, has suffered a saturation bombing. In fact, if these figures were accurate at least eight aircraft would have flown mission and dropped about 60 bombs at every town \u2013 based on<\/a> an average maximum loading of eight FAB-500 general purpose bombs per one Su-25 jet.
\nAt the same time, Business Insider reports that \u201cthe most recent satellite images<\/a> of the Russian-operated Hmeimim air base in Syria show Moscow has 10 types of aircraft in the war-torn country, 33 jets in total and a smaller number of fixed-wing aircraft.\u201d So, all the Russian aircraft are supposed to have taken off and landed 4 times, refueled, loaded weapons and once again set course for Idlib for the 12 hours.
\nIf it really did happen, this military operation could be compared to the one-night air raid on London during WW2, which caused over, 500 deaths a night. But this has nothing in common with the casualties reported by The Guardian.
\nBesides, The Guardian\u2019s figures vary substantially with those from other sources. Thus, The Washington Post referring to \u0412\u0412\u0421<\/a> channel reported 25 airstrikes on 15 towns. It also claimed<\/a> that about 20 militants in the area died in bombardment while The Guardian cited 300 people killed, mostly women and children.
\nHave analyzed Turkish mass media, we do not consider the Guardian\u2019s \u2018facts\u2019 to be authentic. For example, Anadolu Agency reported on civilian casualties referring to White Helmets<\/a> director in Idlib, Mustafa Haj Yusuf. This organization has already been involved in staging fake videos. Moreover, Turkish media claimed the only tragic case had happened in Masaran<\/a> village with eight locals killed and about 40 wounded from Feb. 4 to Feb. 5, 2018. It was also reported that three mosques and a hospital had been destroyed in Maarat al-Numan<\/a> without quoting the number of killed. So Guardian\u2019s data on 300 civilians killed is also looking different.<\/p>\n

Fake No.2 Has Termala actually been?<\/p>\n

Covering the situation around Termala, The Guardian\u2019s reporters refer to some monitoring groups. In our opinion, the source of this false information is the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Surprisingly, we have not found any photos or videos which could prove this airstrike. The Observatory\u2019s representatives said Russian airstrikes had killed three people targeting the village of Termala in Idlib on February 6. This information was widely disseminated by the influential Western media like Anadolu<\/a> and NYP<\/a>. However, their data slightly varies. Some report three civilians deaths while others report five deaths.<\/p>\n

Fake No.3 \u201cChemical explosion\u201d<\/p>\n

There is a particular interest in a new case of the use of chemical weapons in Syria. According to The Guardian, \u201cnine people were treated for symptoms of chlorine exposure after a bomb was dropped on the town of Saraqeb by a helicopter.\u201d However, some American sources like Business Insider<\/a> say there were two bombs and 11 wounded. The Guardian\u2019s journalists refer to the unnamed \u2018medics\u2019. This alleged fact causes major doubts because of several reasons.
\nFirst, we\u2019ve analyzed the craters formed, according to locals, by the barrel bomb with chlorine gas dropped on Saraqeb.<\/p>\n

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\nLocation of the bomb dropped on Saraqeb<\/em><\/p>\n

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The result of the barrel bomb drop in Hama Governorate<\/em><\/p>\n

The dispersion of soil fragments in craters doesn\u2019t match with the barrel bomb drop. This is called a fragmentation effect. The detonating wave converts the shell and sends its fragments\/splinters flying with high velocity in roughly three separate directions when the projectile reaches the surface and the explosive filler blows up.
\nThe aperture of the craters formed and the amount of the splinters in them mostly depend on the shape and body of the shell, and also on the explosive filler inside. The directions of the splinters are affected by the velocity and the speed of rotation at the moment when the projectile explodes. Usually, the majority of the splinters are in the side cones (roughly 80 % of the splinters), and with the shells fired by cannons and howitzers, which have cylindrical projectiles, the aperture of the cone is usually between 40 – 50 degrees. The shells fired by mortars, are usually drop-shaped, giving the side cone an aperture of over 50 degrees. Below is the scheme<\/a> of the dispersion of soil fragments.
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\nThe scheme shows that an artillery and mortar shell unlike a barrel bomb has a parabolic trajectory and coming in a shallow or a steep angle. At the same time, a vertically dropped barrel bomb has practically the similar dispersion of soil fragments in all the directions. The ammunition of different type and function can\u2019t leave the same traces on the ground.
\nOn these videos,<\/p>\n