copenlu/druid huggingface dataset:
Claim: Visuals of a vehicles piling-up on a highway in Indore due to dense fog (SOCIAL MEDIA POST, 2023-01-04)
Evidence (2023-01-05): A video of multiple vehicles crashing into each other on a highway is being shared on social media. The posts claim that this incident happened recently in Indore. Let’s know the details behind this video through this article. [...] To learn further details about the accident, we refined our keywords and searched the internet, which led us to news reports and another YouTube video related to this accident. According to a news report published by India Today on 8 November 2018, ‘Eighteen cars rammed into each other on the Agra-Noida Yamuna Expressway due to low visibility. Speeding cars rammed into one another while people on the footpath were shouting and requesting the drivers to slow down.’ This incident happened because of the dense fog covering the road’s surface. A few more news reports on this incident can be read here and here. To sum it up, this video of cars piling up on an expressway due to dense fog is from 2017.
Claim: Visuals of a vehicles piling-up on a highway in Indore due to dense fog (SOCIAL MEDIA POST, 2023-01-04)
Evidence (2023-01-05): Hyderabad: A video showing a multi-vehicles pile-up is being shared with the claim that the accident took place in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, due to dense fog. [...] NewMeter found that the video shows a road pile-up on the Agra-Noida Yamuna Expressway which happened in 2017 due to dense fog. On performing a reverse image search of the video's keyframe, we found the extended version of the video published by The Quint on 8 November 2017. According to the description, the video shows the piling up of vehicles due to low visibility on the Agra-Noida Yamuna Expressway.
Claim: Visuals of a vehicles piling-up on a highway in Indore due to dense fog (SOCIAL MEDIA POST, 2023-01-04)
Evidence (2016-01-25): In pics| Dense fog piles up 25 cars on Yamuna Expressway, one dead [...] Dense fog and low visibility led to a pile-up of nearly 25 vehicles at the Yamuna Expressway on Sunday morning. The series of accidents resulted in the death of one person while 20 others were reportedly hurt. [...] "The fog was basically the reason for pile-up on the expressway. The deceased has been identified as Geeta Gaud, a woman from Delhi. The injured were admitted to Kailash Hospital and a crane was deployed to remove the cars," said Ajay Kumar, incharge of Rabupura police station.
Claim: Visuals of a vehicles piling-up on a highway in Indore due to dense fog (SOCIAL MEDIA POST, 2023-01-04)
Evidence (2017-01-29): Jaipur-Agra highway: 50 vehicles collide due to dense fog; 1 dead, 40 injured One person has died while at least 28 others are injured on Jaipur-Agra highway as more than 50 vehicles collided with each other due to dense fog. [...] The incident took place on NH- 11 as the visibility on the Agra Road fell below 1 metre and the vehicles piled up one after another.
Claim: Scenes of protesters firing machine guns during recent clashes in Manipur (SOCIAL MEDIA POST, 2023-05-04)
Evidence (2023-05-04): This video is old and unrelated to the recent Manipur clashes, as it has been circulating online since 2019 on various Spanish-related Facebook and Instagram channels. Therefore, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Claim: Scenes of protesters firing machine guns during recent clashes in Manipur (SOCIAL MEDIA POST, 2023-05-04)
Evidence (2023-07-20): Ethnic violence has plunged the small Indian state of Manipur into what many have dubbed a state of civil war as the two largest groups, the majority Meitei and minority Kuki, battle over land and influence. [...] Meitei, Kuki and Naga militias have for decades fought one another over conflicting homeland demands and religious differences, and all sides have clashed with India's security forces. The latest flare-up, however, is almost entirely between the Meitei and the Kuki. [...] Prime Minister Narendra Modi had remained silent on the violence in Manipur up until the video of the 4 May attack emerged this week. He said the incident had "shamed India" and that "no guilty will be spared... what happened with the daughters of Manipur can never be forgiven".
Claim: Scenes of protesters firing machine guns during recent clashes in Manipur (SOCIAL MEDIA POST, 2023-05-04)
Evidence (2021-10-14): As armed clashes ramped up on Thursday, social media footage showed masked gunmen, apparently affiliated with the protesters, firing RPGs and AK-47s from alleyways and from behind garbage dumps and street barriers.
Claim: Scenes of protesters firing machine guns during recent clashes in Manipur (SOCIAL MEDIA POST, 2023-05-04)
Evidence (2024-04-15): "On the night of May 3 at 8pm, people wearing black shirts attacked us. We fired blanks, which forced them to retreat but just for some time," said 43-year-old L Ngampao Khongsai, who had been living in Imphal’s Khongsai Veng area, a predominantly Kuki-Zo area. [...] In the hill areas and closer to the foothills, mobs attacked Meitei neighbourhoods. A pregnant Warepam Rameshwori was forced to flee her village. "Our village is at the foothills in Tronglaobi Maning Leikai [in Bishnupur district] surrounded by Kuki villages. On May 3, the firing started. … [The Kukis] had sophisticated weapons and started firing at us, and we didn’t have any weapons to defend, so we ran away from there and found shelter at a relative’s home," she said. [...] What Lieutenant General Singh said had begun to play out by December when I last reported from Manipur. Videos of gun-toting men in the valley and the hills had proliferated on social media. The armed "volunteers" were being valorised on social media while in personal spaces, many spoke of the worries of young men being lured or recruited by militias, spawning a never-ending cycle of attack, revenge and turf war.
Claim: Scenes of protesters firing machine guns during recent clashes in Manipur (SOCIAL MEDIA POST, 2023-05-04)
Evidence (2024-07-25): Authorities must lift the shoot-on-sight orders, fully restore internet access and end the use of army and paramilitary forces in the policing of protests ‘These repressive measures are a deliberate attempt to crush both these protests and any future dissent’ - Deprose Muchena
Claim: Scenes of protesters firing machine guns during recent clashes in Manipur (SOCIAL MEDIA POST, 2023-05-04)
Evidence (2021-02-11): Myanmar police used machine guns against protesters, says Amnesty [...] Amnesty International says security forces in Myanmar deployed machine guns against peaceful protesters and shot one woman in the head during a demonstration against the military’s seizure of power in a coup. [...] Analysis of images from the protest showed a member of the police carrying a Myanmar-made BA-94 or BA-93 clone of the Uzi sub-machine gun, the human rights group said, contradicting the military’s claim that security forces only deployed non-lethal weapons during Tuesday’s protest.
Claim: Scenes of protesters firing machine guns during recent clashes in Manipur (SOCIAL MEDIA POST, 2023-05-04)
Evidence (2021-10-14): Bursts of gunfire were heard coming from the nearby Tayyoune neighbourhood, scattering the angry protesters. Clashes between rival factions lasted for hours.
Claim: Scenes of protesters firing machine guns during recent clashes in Manipur (SOCIAL MEDIA POST, 2023-05-04)
Evidence (2023-07-10): Churachandpur, India – Bawla (name changed) and more than a dozen other residents of Langza village in India’s northeastern state of Manipur are keeping a watch as the sound of gunfire closes in on the group. [...] The July 2 incident underscores the horrors still unfolding in Manipur, a remote Himalayan state where ethnic clashes between Meitei and Kuki-Zo tribes have killed more than 140 people and displaced more than 50,000 people in two months. [...] The burning of the gate triggered clashes across Manipur as armed groups from both sides went on a rampage, attacking villages and burning homes.
Claim: Scenes of protesters firing machine guns during recent clashes in Manipur (SOCIAL MEDIA POST, 2023-05-04)
Evidence (2023-05-11): Manipur: Broken dreams and burnt homes after India ethnic clashes "Everything has been destroyed. There's nothing left." [...] Singh, along with his wife and two children, had to run for their lives from the Saikul area in India's northeastern state of Manipur when ethnic clashes erupted here last week. [...] Manipur saw widespread violence last week, following protests by indigenous communities - primarily the Kukis - against the demand seeking tribal status for the Meiteis.
Claim: Scenes of protesters firing machine guns during recent clashes in Manipur (SOCIAL MEDIA POST, 2023-05-04)
Evidence (2024-09-13): Since September 1, when violence flared up in the state, at least 10people have died. Clashes first began in Manipur on May 3 last year between the dominant Meities and the tribal Kukis, but has since spiralled to engulf the entire state, killing 225people. Communities have withdrawn behind their respective strongholds -- the Meiteis in the valley and the Kukis in the hills. But after a brief interlude of nearly three months, violence returned to Manipur on September 1, when one woman was killed and 10 others were injured after militants opened fire and dropped grenades using drones, in the first bombing of its kind in the strife-torn state. [...] In the last 10 days, rockets were fired in at least two places — Molphai Tampa and Tronglaobi - in Manipur’s Bishnupur district. One person died and over six were injured.
Claim: Scenes of protesters firing machine guns during recent clashes in Manipur (SOCIAL MEDIA POST, 2023-05-04)
Evidence (2023-08-09): At least 150 people have been killed since May in ethnic violence in Manipur, a remote state in northeast India with a history of tensions between tribal groups. [...] Protesters set fire to vehicles and buildings, and Meitei mobs armed with guns and petrol cans then attacked Kuki-Zo settlements in the hills. [...] Clashes have killed at least 150 people, though many in Manipur believe the number could be higher.
Claim: Scenes of protesters firing machine guns during recent clashes in Manipur (SOCIAL MEDIA POST, 2023-05-04)
Evidence (2023-05-07): The unrest in Manipur state erupted on Wednesday after a protest march organised by the Kuki tribal group sparked clashes with the Meitei non-tribal group, resulting in widespread damage to vehicles and properties. [...] Violence erupted in the Kuki-dominated Churachandpur district of the state, where members of the Kuki tribe were protesting against the Meitei community’s demands to be designated as a "Scheduled Tribe". [...] "There has been violence in Manipur since its incorporation into the Indian state. It is a complicated, complex region shaped by several factors," Saikia said.
Claim: Scenes of protesters firing machine guns during recent clashes in Manipur (SOCIAL MEDIA POST, 2023-05-04)
Evidence (2023-07-16): Ethnic violence has plunged Manipur, India's scenic state bordering Myanmar, into turmoil. Persistent clashes between the Meiteis and Kukis for over two months have left both feeling besieged. The neighbouring villages of these communities appear to be particularly susceptible to attacks. In the second of a two-part series on Manipur, the BBC's Soutik Biswas visited a scenic valley where Meitei villages have come under attack. [...] On 3 May, ethnic violence sparked by a thorny affirmative action row erupted in India's north-eastern state of Manipur. More than 130 people have died since, during clashes between the majority Meitei and the tribal Kuki minority groups. Some 60,000 have become refugees in their own land. [...] The underlying tensions in Manipur stem from a complex interplay of various factors, one of which is a crackdown on drugs in recent years. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led state government, under Chief Minister N Biren Singh, who is a Meitei, launched a controversial campaign targeting poppy farming. Since 2017, his government claims to have destroyed more than 18,600 acres of poppy farms, the majority of them in Kuki-inhabited areas. (Manipur has long battled a drug-addiction crisis and is among four north-eastern Indian states bordering Myanmar, the world's second-largest opium producer.)
Claim: Scenes of protesters firing machine guns during recent clashes in Manipur (SOCIAL MEDIA POST, 2023-05-04)
Evidence (2023-09-19): Despite a police complaint being registered in May, no investigation into the incident took place until a video of it surfaced on social media in July. That's when the conflict in Manipur caught the attention of many in India and around the world. [...] When we met Tomba at the Meitei bunker, we were struck by how openly he and others were carrying weapons, seemingly unafraid of being caught by the police or security forces. In both Meitei and Kuki areas near the de facto borders we frequently saw civilians walking freely with weapons, sometimes even in the presence of police and security forces. The BBC also saw minors holding guns. [...] The police directed us to their account on X, formerly known as Twitter, where they have been posting photos of weapons they have recovered and seized. At least six police officers are reported to have been killed in Manipur since the violence began.
Claim: Scenes of protesters firing machine guns during recent clashes in Manipur (SOCIAL MEDIA POST, 2023-05-04)
Evidence (2024-09-10): GUWAHATI, India (AP) — Indian authorities on Tuesday imposed an indefinite curfew and shut down the internet in some parts of the northeastern state of Manipur following protests from students against a fresh wave of ethnic violence, which has roiled the state for more than a year. [...] Manipur, a state of 3.7 million people tucked in the mountains on India’s border with Myanmar, has been embroiled in ethnic clashes since May of last year. Around 250 people have been killed and tens of thousands displaced after mobs rampaged through villages and torched houses. The unrest broke out when Christian Kukis protested a demand by the mostly Hindu Meiteis for a special status that would let them buy land in hills that populated by Kukis and other tribal groups. Despite a heavy army presence and a visit by the home minister last year, when he met with both communities, the deadly clashes have persisted.
Claim: Scenes of protesters firing machine guns during recent clashes in Manipur (SOCIAL MEDIA POST, 2023-05-04)
Evidence (2024-09-07): Manipur violence updates: While ethnic clashes have roiled Manipur for the last one and a half years, the situation has been extreme tense in the last 5 days. [...] An officer of a security force posted in Manipur said, "A gunfight started in the morning after militants entered a village and killed a man. The killing was part of the ethnic clashes. The gunfight is on. We have reports that the ones who died are from both Kuki and Meitei communities." While ethnic clashes have roiled Manipur for the last one and a half years, the situation has been extreme tense in the last 5 days after another wave of violence.
Claim: Scenes of protesters firing machine guns during recent clashes in Manipur (SOCIAL MEDIA POST, 2023-05-04)
Evidence (2023-05-05): Amid the recent violent clashes in Manipur, a video showing people firing bullets from machine guns is being circulated on social media with the claim that it depicts the ongoing conflict. Let’s verify the claim made in the post. [...] The Manipur clashes are centred around the demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for the non-tribal Meitei community. The unrest began when the BJP-led government launched an eviction drive in February, which some saw as targeting a specific tribal group. Protests escalated on May 3 after the Manipur High Court directed the state to pursue a 10-year-old recommendation to grant ST status to the Meitei community. Tribal groups oppose this move, fearing a loss of job opportunities and the possibility of the Meiteis acquiring land in the hills, pushing the tribals out. The situation intensified with violent protests, arson, and a death on May 3 and 4 following a "tribal solidarity rally" against the move to include the Meiteis in the ST list. In response, the government deployed the army to regain control of the situation. Consequently, the video in question predates the recent violent clashes that unfolded in Manipur. We contacted the previous uploaders of the video to determine if it is from a video game or a real incident and if it is indeed real, to gather more information, such as the location and context of the firing. This article will be updated accordingly once the necessary information is obtained.
Claim: Scenes of protesters firing machine guns during recent clashes in Manipur (SOCIAL MEDIA POST, 2023-05-04)
Evidence (2023-05-12): Manipur state’s chief minister, N Biren Singh, has said about 230 people were injured and 1,700 houses were burned in clashes between the majority Meitei people, who are mostly Hindus, and the mainly Christian Kuki tribe. [...] The spark for the latest ethnic clash was a protest about plans to give the Meitei "scheduled tribe" status. A form of affirmative action to combat structural inequality and discrimination, that classification would give them guaranteed quotas of government jobs and college admissions. [...] Violence erupted in the regional capital, Imphal, and elsewhere, with protesters setting fire to vehicles and buildings. According to villagers, Meitei mobs armed with guns and petrol cans then attacked Kuki settlements in the hills.
Claim: Scenes of protesters firing machine guns during recent clashes in Manipur (SOCIAL MEDIA POST, 2023-05-04)
Evidence (2024-09-15): "It is unfortunate that, unlike earlier protests, the police are now facing protestors retaliating with lethal weapons, including petrol bombs, sharp iron pieces launched from slingshots, and automatic firearms," said Herojit. Earlier, during the intervening night of September 6 and 7, the officer-in-charge of the Imphal East commando unit, along with another personnel, sustained bullet injuries, allegedly fired by protestors in Khabeisoi, Imphal East. This occurred while they were controlling a mob attempting to storm the 7th Manipur Rifles in an effort to loot firearms from the armoury. [...] SP Imphal West, Ksh Shivakanta, reported that during the Kakwa protest on Saturday night, his bulletproof vehicle was struck by more than 15 bullets, allegedly fired by protestors. He also mentioned that a video circulating on social media showed tear gas shells being fired at police, reportedly from within the crowd of protestors. There were also reports of armed miscreants threatening residents to open their gates to provide hiding places if the police began stringent action against the protestors.
Claim: Scenes of protesters firing machine guns during recent clashes in Manipur (SOCIAL MEDIA POST, 2023-05-04)
Evidence (2023-09-06): More than 40 people were injured in a stampede at Manipur’s Bishnupur district on Wednesday as security forces fired tear gas shells to disperse over 10,000 people who had converged to demand the removal of an Army barricade. A defence source said the stand-off continued through the day. Armed miscreants fired at the Central security forces and a mob threw stones at them. Three personnel of the Rapid Action Force (RAF), a specialised anti-riot force, were injured in the incident. [...] When the crowd at Kwakta was stopped by the joint columns of the Central security forces and the Army, a mob retaliated by throwing stones at the security personnel, the defence source said. Around 4.15 p.m. on Wednesday, armed miscreants fired with automatic weapons at the security forces. "The security forces fired tear gas shells to disperse the mob, but few people including women were injured in a stampede," said the defence source. [...] The area has seen frequent clashes between the tribal Kuki-Zo and the Meitei communities. A police armoury was looted on August 3 at Narainsena in Bishnupur. Recently, as many as eight persons were killed and 29 injured when clashes erupted between the two groups between August 29 and September 1.
Claim: Scenes of protesters firing machine guns during recent clashes in Manipur (SOCIAL MEDIA POST, 2023-05-04)
Evidence (2023-07-24): The violence was sparked by a court ruling in March that granted the majority Meitei "scheduled tribal status", entitling them to the same economic benefits and quotas in government jobs and education as the minority Kuki. [...] Though the state and central government – which are both ruled by the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) – have claimed that the situation has begun to calm down, intermittent clashes have continued to erupt and those fighting on both sides have warned that Manipur remains on the brink of civil war. The clashes have renewed and strengthened a longstanding demand by the Kukis for their own separate state. Kuki groups say the violence has proved they can no longer live safely under the oppressions of a Meitei-dominant state and have pledged they will not stop fighting until their own state is granted. The Meitei community and the state government fiercely oppose the creation of a separate Kuki state.
Claim: Scenes of protesters firing machine guns during recent clashes in Manipur (SOCIAL MEDIA POST, 2023-05-04)
Evidence (2001-11-01): Shangani. Position of laager at, deliberately selected, 283. Great importance of machine guns at fight on the, 441. Attack on the, laager made at dawn, 447.
Claim: Scenes of protesters firing machine guns during recent clashes in Manipur (SOCIAL MEDIA POST, 2023-05-04)
Evidence (2024-09-12): Manipur Police has procured machine guns, but why? [...] Amid the escalation in attacks by militants on civilian targets, Manipur Police has procured medium machine guns (MMGs), and sought the Indian Army's help in training its personnel for their use. The upgrade of the arsenal by Manipur Police with military-grade sophisticated weapons is raising some questions. [...] "@BJP4India Government approved the use of Medium Machine Guns (MMG) for the communal Police Commandos in the already violence escalation state, Manipur. Let's wait for how it deploys and on whom," posted Haokip on September 6.
Claim: Scenes of protesters firing machine guns during recent clashes in Manipur (SOCIAL MEDIA POST, 2023-05-04)
Evidence (2023-10-18): CHURACHANDPUR, India — During times of civil unrest and political turmoil, authorities around the world frequently cut access to the internet to control their populations and throttle the flow of information. The militaries in Sudan and Myanmar pulled the plug when they carried out armed coups in 2021. Iran flipped the switch when protesters flooded the streets following the death a year ago of a young woman, Mahsa Amini, in police custody. [...] Since May, when ethnic bloodshed erupted in Manipur state, in northeast India, the state government controlled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has enforced a draconian internet ban affecting the state’s 3 million people — one of the longest recorded shutdowns in the world — as violence between two ethnic groups spread from village to village, leaving more than 200 dead. [...] The unrest in Manipur began on April 27. Kuki activists called for a general strike against the land policies of the state’s chief minister that day, and the demonstration turned violent.