Egyptian Police Arrest 5 for Using Children to State Fake ‘Aleppo’ Footage

A videographer, his assistants and two parents were arrested by police in the northern Egyptian city of Port Said for making fake videos of bloody and battered children against a warzone backdrop, purportedly to show the travesty of the air strikes over Syria.

Aleppo has been the target of airstrikes for years.

The Independent reported:

“The team reportedly admitted they had planned to distribute their work on social media, pretending it showed scenes of the injured and destruction in Aleppo, the embattled northern Syrian city which has just fallen back under government control after four years of fighting between the regime and Sunni rebels.”

One video showed a girl with a bag over her head, dressed in white that was covered with red paint meant to appear as blood, holding a stuffed animal toy.

The footage was raw and amateurish.

The Independent describes more:

“It was not immediately clear what charges had been brought against the five. The Independent has contacted the Egyptian authorities for clarification.

“In the distinctly amateur raw videos and stills released by the Interior Ministry, an eight-year-old girl wears a white dress and bandages covered in red stains, and holds a teddy bear. A 12-year-old boy is also interviewed about what life is like under intensive Russian-backed Syrian government air strikes.”

Police seized the team’s six cameras.

Again, from the Independent:

“Syrian activists and White Helmets rescue workers, until recently trapped inside east Aleppo’s siege barricades, have frequently been accused by critics of faking harrowing footage of the aftermath of bombings and digging survivors from rubble that have frequently emerged from the war-torn city.

“Many other videos and photos of incidents reportedly from Aleppo which circulate on social media are staged or filmed elsewhere, both the Syrian government and its allies say.”