Opposition-combatants who went missing in action in Hama countryside didn’t come back from the dead

Combatants who went missing during recent clashes with Assad forces in Hama countryside has been found, social media accounts claimed. “10 martyrs from Saraqeb came back from the dead after they had been declared martyred,“ these accounts posted. A photo of a young combatant was posted alongside the posts.

Two opposition-armed groups went missing in action on Jemleh village and Latamneh town frontlines on June 18; they were targeted by airstrikes and anti-armor missiles during clashes that aimed to repel Assad offensive on Idlib.

Verify-Sy fact-checked the news; it turned out to be fake. Only one of the 13-combatants group turn up alive. Our team cross-checked the information it had had with three field sources; it turned out that the claims were circulated after Mohammad Kafrtoni, a combatant, had come back to Saraqeb city.

According to field sources, most of the deceased combatants originated in Saraqeb city: Mohammad Mahmoud al-Abboud, Ahmad Abdulkareem Zaydan, Abdulrahman Amer Hilal, Mohammad Na’iem al-Abrash, Nabeel Abdulmen’em Haj Esma’iel, Jameel Fou’ad Bilal, Ousama al-Sheih al-Ma’damani, Mohammad Haj Ali al-Bakier, Abu Saddam Rayyan, and Ahmad Abdullah Gabbar. Amjad Bakier, a media activist who accompanied them to cover the clashes, also deceased.

Locals and activists said that the photos of dead combatants that were broadcast by Assad regime-backed news outlet SANA are of their relatives who were combatants and went missing in action in Jemleh village.