Syria is undergoing a dramatic transformation, just over a year after Islamist-led rebels ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad and 15 years after the the civil war plunged the country into chaos.  

The new leadership under President Ahmed al-Sharaa is consolidating control over northern regions long administered by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). As part of the transition, the SDF is now being pressured to hand over critical sites, including the al‑Hol camp, where thousands of relatives of Islamic State (IS) fighters have been detained for years.

As international allegiances shift, the high-priority camp changes hands and state-led troops push into new territory, social media has been flooded with misleading or entirely fabricated videos purporting to show “current” events in Syria.

DW Fact check reviewed several viral clips—and found them to be false or misrepresented.

Mass escape from al-Hol camp?

Claim: A video allegedly showing a large escape of IS‑affiliated detainees from al-Hol camp is circulating widely on multiple platforms in Arabicand English. The captions commonly claim: “Major prison revolt at al-Hol camp – ISIS families are currently trying to escape.”  

DW Fact check: False 

The video is old and does not show recent events. Al-Hol is a notorious camp where the SDF has held thousands of relatives of suspected IS militants. One of the central concerns circulating online is the fear that IS militants could re-emerge as the camp changes hands.

But a reverse image search shows this footage was circulating as early as September 2025, when the X account Rojava News published a longer version, including a Kurdish TV Channel 8 reporter visible on‑scene in the extended footage.

Agence France-Presse and others reported that SDF authorities did thwart an attempted escape from al-Hol camp involving IS families in September 2025. 

We also compared stills from the viral video with available agency photographs and confirmed that the location shown is indeed al-Hol camp, but the footage does not depict recent events. 

Tens of thousands from Northern Kurdistan are marching to Rojava

Claim: A video allegedly shows tens of thousands of people from Northern Kurdistan crossing the border on their way to Rojava to support their people. 

This claim is being shared several times online alongside a video showing large crowds moving along snow-covered roads, including this postwith nearly a million views on X. 

DW Fact check: False 

The video is old and does not show people heading toward northern Syria. 

By tracing the audio on Instagram, DW identified the clip as having been posted in January 2023 , long before the current Syrian developments. DW also found a lot of similar posts with the same audio file on Instagram, including one that has garnered 2.8M views.   

Users in the comment sections identify the scene as crowds returning from a sports event. One comment beneath the video with 2.8M views says this is how “Uloq köpkari” is. 

Commenters under the original posts identify the gathering as crowds returning from a Central Asian equestrian sports event, specifically linked to Kökbörü(also known as Kokpar), a traditional horseback contest played across Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.

The video has no connection to the Syrian–Turkish border or any movement toward Rojava.

“North Kurdistan sets fire to the Nusaybin border gate to cross into Qamishlo”

Another viral video allegedly shows rioters burning what is described as a police station at the Nusaybin border crossing.

Claim: “The people of North Kurdistan have set fire to the Nusaybin border gate and are attempting to cross into Qamishlo.” This claim is circulating alongside a video in both English and Turkish.

DW Fact check: False 

The scene does not take place anywhere near the Syria–Turkey border.

People in the video can be heard speaking Farsi, and the building on fire matches the architectural style ofIranian police stations. 

A reverse image search found unverified reports in Israeli media about the protests in Iran dating back to early January. 

Given that clashes between protesters and police in Iranintensified around January 8, the footage is likely older, making it unrelated to current events in Syria.

AI-generated soldier laments US involvement

Claim: “An American female soldier stated that she feels ‘shame and embarrassment’ regarding the events in Rojava, affirming that the United States has indirectly contributed to the commission of crimes against Kurdish fighters.”

This is the caption for a videoof a woman in army garb, crying and wiping her tears in front of a waving American flag. In the video, she says, “I just wanted to let you know that I’m doing well. It’s been such a tough journey, but I’ve been trying my best to hold on for all of us.”

DW Fact check: Fake 

There are two major issues with this claim.  

The first is that the video is AI-generated. This can be seen, for example, in the inconsistencies in the sandbags in the background that warp and flicker. In addition, her tears disappear or land unnaturally on her T-shirt. Also, the soldier’s name tag reads “WHADR,” a nonexistent surname, and the lettering visibly trembles.

 HIVE Moderation, an AI detection tool, assessed the clip as 69% likely AI-generated.

The TikTok handle which appears in the video links to an accountthat only posts short videos of female soldiers with similar nametag issues.  

The second hint is in the caption. The soldier does not use the quoted words, “shame and embarrassment,” nor does she mention anything about the United States’ involvement in the region.  

The US was once the SDF’s main ally. But after negotiations fell apart, the US shifted its support to the new government. 

As Syria undergoes rapid political and territorial changes, misinformation continues to spread across social platforms — often recycling old, misidentified, or AI‑generated content to stoke fear or fuel political narratives.

Edited by: Silja Thoms, Rachel Baig