"Something Strange" - Hurriyah car bombing video seems staged

M Bornong

Senior Member.
This video came across my facebook feed, it seems to show someone planting a car bomb, then driving off. The car explodes, seconds later people run into the view of the camera, some fall to the ground and are then helped by the others.

[Mod: First video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdcJSisznJg removed, replaced with mirror]

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY-bHqznIa0


The story also linked to an Associated Press credited story with a photo.

People inspect the aftermath of a deadly car bomb explosion that hit a popular fruit and vegetable market in a commercial street in Baghdad's northwestern neighborhood of Hurriyah, Iraq, Monday, Oct. 31, 2016. Iraqi police say a parked car bomb exploded in Baghdad's northwestern neighborhood of Hurriyah on Sunday, killed at least 10 and wounding many. (AP Photo/ Karim Kadim)
Content from External Source
http://www.coastreporter.net/iraqi-special-forces-poised-on-eastern-edge-of-mosul-1.2394107

The claim is that the live leak video obviously proves this is a False Flag. What the False Flag would be used for is not explained. I don't know, maybe Obama will come for their guns?:confused: Anyway, when I first looked at the AP photo and the video, the graffiti and the color of the trees didn't look right. I thought maybe it was a different location. Then I came across this video. (Sorry, I can't get the video to embed)
Source: http://globalnews.ca/video/3035393/raw-video-aftermath-of-deadly-car-bombing-in-baghdad-that-left-at-least-10-dead


The boy in the AP photo appears at 12 seconds. I also took a screen shot from both videos that show a similar angle and with the 3 points the trees over hang the wall, the power pole at the end of the wall and the rectangular debris at the base of the wall seem to line up between the 2 videos. It does seem to be the same location.
falseflagb.jpg

Before the explosion in the live leak video, could there have been another explosion not caught on the camera that the crowd was running away from? I wanted to get other opinions in case this story does gain more traction.
 
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Reading about the event im thinking the [people] that died were probably in the stand, so the people we see were probably just wounded.

[removed wrong photos]
 
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a bit confused about locations as 4 locations were blown up. this photo says Hurriyah but the car is still intact... unless that is another car.
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Your photo is from 2007, the live leak video is time stamped Oct. 30, 2016 the AP photo is dated Oct. 31, 2016 describing the event on Oct. 30. There were 5 car bombings in Baghdad on the 30th. Only one listed in the neighborhood of Hurriyah, where my videos and photos in the OP show.

BAGHDAD — The Latest on the conflict in the Iraq and the battle to retake the IS-held city of Mosul (all times local):

5:18 p.m.

Iraqi police say a parked car bomb has exploded in Baghdad's northwestern neighborhood of Hurriyah, killing at least 10 and wounding 34.

The bombing, which hit a popular fruit and vegetable market in a commercial street of the predominantly Shiite neighborhood, was the fifth such explosion in the capital on Sunday. The day's casualty toll from the attacks in Baghdad now stands at 17 dead and over 60 wounded.


Content from External Source
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/10/30/world/middleeast/ap-ml-iraq-the-latest.html?_r=0
 
Before the explosion in the live leak video, could there have been another explosion not caught on the camera that the crowd was running away from? I wanted to get other opinions in case this story does gain more traction.

Is it possible that this is a drill? A mock explosion to test medical response skills? And then its gotten confused with a real bombing nearby in a similar location?
 
Very strange. The people don't look wounded to me, they look like they are running in and lying down deliberately. And the AP photo is definitely the same location.
 
The wall looks scorched in the photograph, yet it already looks that way in the video before the car blew up. Could a group have staged a second explosion to cause this confusion?

Can anyone translate the graffiti?

Ray Von
 
Can anyone translate the graffiti?
Googling the end of the long red inscription, I think it is a quote from a hadith.

upload_2016-11-3_13-36-19.png

See blue highlight here: http://www.alseraj.net/3/index2.shtml?91&100&94&1&2

upload_2016-11-3_13-36-38.png

The full red graffiti appears to be this section of the quote, although it is hard to say for sure:

من ملأ عينيه حراماً ، يحشوها الله يوم القيامة مسامير من نار

upload_2016-11-3_13-50-38.png


Google Translate... well you get the gist

upload_2016-11-3_13-56-58.png
 
I was looking for facebook pages that had shared this video and were possibly closer to the source. I came across this page, the title translates to News of Iraq-24. It has quite the active conversation going on, with 8200 comments so far, I've only looked at the past couple of hours of comments. I cannot confirm the translation, I can not find a movie titled, Iraqi Return of Hope, I can not find a Prof. Ahmed phone(?). 2 different people made this exact reply within an hour of each other, several other people talked about a movie by Prof. Ahmed phone.

It sure would be nice if one of us knew someone who spoke Arabic and could possibly provide a better translation and/or confirm if the movie does indeed exist, and if so, does the Live Leak video come from it?

ProfAhmedphone.jpg
https://www.facebook.com/alsharqiya...706613066226038&comment_tracking={"tn":"R9"}#
 
I was looking for facebook pages that had shared this video and were possibly closer to the source. I came across this page, the title translates to News of Iraq-24. It has quite the active conversation going on, with 8200 comments so far, I've only looked at the past couple of hours of comments. I cannot confirm the translation, I can not find a movie titled, Iraqi Return of Hope, I can not find a Prof. Ahmed phone(?). 2 different people made this exact reply within an hour of each other, several other people talked about a movie by Prof. Ahmed phone.

The name is "الاستاذ أحمد هاتف", or "Al Ustadh [professor] Ahmad Hatif".

upload_2016-11-4_2-39-11.png

Ahmad Hatif is an Iraqi film director: http://gulfnews.com/today-i-feel-more-iraqi-says-film-director-hatif-1.593445


TODAY I FEEL MORE IRAQI, SAYS FILM DIRECTOR HATIF
  • Posted by Mayada Al Askari, Staff Writer, Gulf News
  • Published 19:56 March 7, 2010
Ahmad Hatif is an Iraqi film director, scenarist and a writer. He called a while ago after receiving a text message from me asking him if he voted.
Content from External Source
 
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This is the director's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004467843413&fref=ufi&rc=p

upload_2016-11-4_2-50-53.png

Clearly the same person as you find by doing an image search for أحمد هاتف, although he seems to go by a different Arabic name, Ahmed Abu al-Hussan, on Facebook.

upload_2016-11-4_2-51-45.png

And here he comments directly on the video:

upload_2016-11-4_2-54-17.png

https://www.facebook.com/ali.mared.3/posts/10154541154538213?comment_id=10154541562198213&comment_tracking={"tn":"R9"}

http://archive.is/FlJ6s



So, it seems this is actually a staged explosion for a film. The mystery is why photos and videos of the aftermath have been reported as a real bombing that killed people.
 
so this white thing in the back on the tv footage (right side) isnt a building? its like a mobile home or something? nice of them to move it before they blow up the car.
sbsbomb.JPG
 
so this white thing in the back on the tv footage (right side) isnt a building? its like a mobile home or something? nice of them to move it before they blow up the car.
sbsbomb.JPG

Behind the wall? It does look like it is in a different place, doesn't it. Might be just down to the camera angles, but I can't figure it out.

There's another video from the same location posted in the comments on Facebook. I can't link to it directly. It doesn't clarify the building issue but it does appear to show blood on the ground. Real blood or movie blood? All very strange.

IMG_8136.PNG
 
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Could it be that Ahmed Abu al-Hussan is actually saying they recreated an actual bombing as part of a film? It's hard to make out due to the translation.

That could explain the scorched wall, and those gates also look like they might be a temporary fix, perhaps replacing ones damaged in the initial "real" explosion?

Ray Von
 
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Behind the wall? It does look like it is in a different place, doesn't it. Might be just down to the camera angles, but I can tell figure it out.
the one with the people standing.. the stuff on the top (trash), i'm wondering if it is a dumpster. ?

the first two letters i cant match up either.. but the rest seems to match up well. i guess the camera might have washed out parts of letters since it turned the trees red and the building bright white. yea, i cant figure it out.
upload_2016-11-4_8-55-57.png
 
that's good footage as far as location near schools. i located one elementary school on google maps but didnt see any roadways etc that seemed to match the film. or news photos.
That was going to be my next job when I'm less busy with work - try to find the location.
 
That was going to be my next job when I'm less busy with work - try to find the location.
i looked pretty good. theres one school "Jihad Primary" on the far left of Hurriyah that has an alley that is sort of similar, and would explain parents walking kids through it to get home.. but the cross street there doesnt look like your video at all. Of course God knows when the google maps satellite snaps are from.

Hard to find info if you dont know arabic. and because they write right to left when you paste things in google search it pastes in backwards and messes my brain all up :) Translations are also horrible.
 

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So, it seems this is actually a staged explosion for a film. The mystery is why photos and videos of the aftermath have been reported as a real bombing that killed people.
bellingcat concludes
A car bomb indeed exploded in this street, but the only footage of the explosion shows that the casualties were pretending to be injured or dead.
Content from External Source
I'm still not sure this is true. The only guy that seems to move "weird" is the guy who ends up prone by where teh van stops. But the truth is the guy in front of him falls, so bearing in mind you would try to slow down if someone falls in your path his "fall" doesnt seem so weird.
It appears that he kinda slowly 'sits down', but he was already in this postion from trying to slow up.
11-5-2016 1-39-10 PM.png

then his roll over does seem a bit "dramatic" but what if these people were hurt (even as far as wind knocked out of them) by the explosion, they weren't completely incapacitated so tried to get out of the area... running as one would toward the main street where help and safety is more likely.

i watched one bomb explosion on film (dont want to link it as there were alot of young kids right near bomb so :( ) and two men were helping another away from the area. i can speculate that if he was alone and tried to run on his own he wouldnt have made it too far before collapsing. no blood visible on him but he was all wobbly like a wet noodle.

Bottom line, how people act in times of trauma looking "weird", "fake" or "odd" to some people, as we know, does not necessarily mean they were acting.

The scorch marks of course make no sense (or the location of that white 'building' still confuses me), but no matter teh scenario: real bomb, fake set up and crisis actors, OR film set (belling cat says that guy has deleted his statements claiming this).. it still makes no sense the smoke fromt he car didnt seem to add much soot to the wall.
 
bellingcat concludes
A car bomb indeed exploded in this street, but the only footage of the explosion shows that the casualties were pretending to be injured or dead.
Content from External Source

The scorch marks of course make no sense (or the location of that white 'building' still confuses me), but no matter teh scenario: real bomb, fake set up and crisis actors, OR film set (belling cat says that guy has deleted his statements claiming this).. it still makes no sense the smoke fromt he car didnt seem to add much soot to the wall.

He has not deleted all of them, this one that Trailblazer linked to is still up. https://www.metabunk.org/something-...bombing-video-seems-staged.t8110/#post-194862
 
As other comments have said though, this looks curiously underpowered for a car bomb. One person on the Bellingcat Twitter thread said they have seen car bombs up close and this looked more like a propane explosion. (Which would back up the film set idea, as propane tanks are commonly used for film explosions.)

Also the street is totally empty when the bomb goes off. It gives the impression of having been cleared on purpose. And even if the people who run in were only just off camera at the time of the explosion, it doesn't seem powerful enough to have caused mass casualties.
 
As other comments have said though, this looks curiously underpowered for a car bomb.
yea i dont know anything about car bombs or bombs in general.
car.JPG

the problem with the "film" idea:
upload_2016-11-5_21-13-2.png
that entire strip is schools. including elementary schools. in your footage that little girls face we see up close, she is terrified. maybe they have no zoning laws in Baghdad as far as blowing things up but considering this is BAGHDAD and car bombs are a common occurance, i would think that film crew would get the bleep kicked out of them for doing that esp. near schools. I dont care if you "tell the kids" they are going to be making a film today so brace yourself. i call bull.
That's like telling the kids at SH Elementary a month later... ok were going to let a cew film a reenactment in the back yard here so you'll here lots of gunfire, but it's just a film.

It makes zero sense.


we cant say the car and explosion was cgi'd in because we have film shortly there after of people looking at the smoking car. police/fire on scene etc.

The street in all other shots (including the shots sent to bellington Nov 5th) the street isnt very populated at all. Perhaps 8 dead and 30 wounded is incorrect. hard to judge without knowing the language. The press does get things wrong all the time and often doesnt correct mistakes. I imagine in Baghdad news the mistake woould have been corrected (because alot of people would have realized it was false), but English news wouldnt necessarily correct it.

I dont know. But i just dont think it could possibly be a film. Not in that location. Everything in baghdad looks the same... no reason you couldnt have done that at least a bit away from children.

A bit strange the CCTV doesnt show the guy carrying the whatever TO the car though. Did live leaks snip that? and why?

Like i said. makes no sense.
 
yea i dont know anything about car bombs or bombs in general.
car.JPG

the problem with the "film" idea:
upload_2016-11-5_21-13-2.png

A bit strange the CCTV doesnt show the guy carrying the whatever TO the car though. Did live leaks snip that? and why?

Like i said. makes no sense.

Bellingcat has updated their story with a photo of the camera that supposedly shot the live leak video. Seems strange that a film maker wouldn't want to set up his own cameras.


Update 6 (Nov. 5 at 15:54 UTC): Twitter user “@aboudX2” from Baghdad visited the area and shared photos and a video with us. I have updated several section related to the burn marks on the wall, as he claims that it is an area “where garbage is always piled up by squatters who live around the corner from the school/bomb site. It’s burned every now and then.” That appears to explain the burn marks on the wall. Video footage confirms there is a lot of trash next to the wall.


Content from External Source
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/mena/2016/11/04/remarkable-case-iraqi-car-bomb/
 
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