A satellite image from Sudan that went viral online due to claims it showed a mass grave was actually a photo of livestock from 2024, it has been revealed.
The image of Kumia, south of the city of El Fasher, where mass killings have been reported, was portrayed on social media as showing dead bodies lying in a pool of blood. One user called it "the most disturbing Google Earth image ever".
While the image is genuine, and not generated by AI or otherwise manipulated, it is not connected to the recent escalation in violence in Sudan. Google Earth shows the image in Kumia was taken on March 16, 2024.
Another image from March 27, 2022, before Sudan's civil war broke out, shows the same dark-red patch of ground in an enclosure. The historical images were spotted by open source investigator Benjamin Strick.
"There are a lot of horrific images, videos and even satellite images you can use to show the horrors that are happening in Sudan," Mr Strick said in a post on X. "But this is a watering hole and those are animals."
It wasn't clear when the image was first misidentified online. International concern over the war in Sudan has been rising since the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) captured El Fasher from the Sudanese army, their rival in the conflict.
The UN Security Council led condemnation of the RSF assault, warning of a risk of ethnically motivated violence. Sheikh Tamim, Emir of Qatar, spoke of "horrific atrocities" committed in the city and the wider Darfur region, saying it was time for peace.
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