Tehran, Dec 3 (ANI): An Iranian television channel has been accused of running fake stories about American drone strikes in Somalia.
The channel, which is based in Tehran and broadcasts around-the-clock in English, claimed that over 1,370 people were killed in 56 drone strikes since September.
An analysis of their reports by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, however, found no evidence to back up the claims, the Telegraph reports.
Their first report on September 15 claimed that a strike on the outskirts of the town of Kismayo had left nine women and children dead. But no video or photographic evidence has ever been presented in support of the story, the report said.
Four other reports were found to be identical, with only place names and casualty numbers adjusted.
Also, sources cited by the channel including spokesmen for the Somali military could not be tracked down and no evidence was found that they existed.
The US is known to have used drones in Somalia, but Tony Burns, the director of operations at the charity Saacid, which is based in Mogadishu, said the cited casualty figures were "simply not possible".
"Saacid's experience has been that Press TV does have a penchant for exaggeration. In the past they have published conflict reports which, in reality, never occurred, and casualty figures that are simply not true," the paper quoted him, as saying. (ANI)
|
|
Read More: English
Comments:
